Ooh, aah... you’re such a (brain) teaser

BATTLES to stave off the signs of ageing take many forms.

For some the approach is clichéd: paunchy men investing in a high-end sports car with a beast for an engine, or older women shelling out for Botox or other face-saving procedures.

For others the approach is more subdued, with Sudoku and crosswords being the weapons of choice.

Yet, while brain-teasing has long been associated with the preservation and enhancement of cognitive capacity, recent findings that the brain benefits of orgasm may be a lot greater than those provided by mental stimulation, have shocked puzzle fans, many of whom have thrown down their crosswords and taken to their beds.

The man behind the crossword-crippling revelation is Barry Komisaruk, a 72-year-old professor of psychologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. While he has been studying female arousal since the 1960s, he’s very much a modern man. Prof Komisaruk’s Sexual Brain Lab has its own Facebook page.

Discussing his research with Feelgood, the professor explains that orgasms are good for the brain because they produce an increase in the delivery of blood glow, oxygen and nutrients to that region. “While orgasm generates high activity across many parts of the brain, mental exercise increases activity in relatively localised areas,” he says.

Experts argue that crosswords can hold their own in the brain benefit league, but there’s no denying that harnessing the power of orgasm has greater mass appeal.

Sexologist and sex therapist, Emily Power Smith, explains that while orgasms increase blood flow, exercise the internal muscles, and keep pelvic floor muscles healthy as we age, their feelgood impact extends beyond the bedroom door.

“Orgasms enhance mood, lower stress levels and release pleasure hormones. They make us feel more sexually attractive, alive and confident,” she says.

The role played by orgasm in warding off senility is just one of Prof Komisaruk’s research areas. He has discovered that vaginal stimulation has a powerful pain-blocking impact on women. “Armed with this knowledge, women have told me that they have successfully treated their own menstrual cramps, leg and back pain,” he says.

Given that Prof Komisaruk runs a sex lab, it’s hardly surprising that he has studied some extraordinary phenomena there.

Some of the women studied are so orgasmic they reach sexual climax without any apparent stimulation. “At first I was quite sceptical and quite surprised about the concept of women having orgasms by thinking about simple pleasures, such as beach walks or a lover whispering in their ears,” admits Prof Komisaruk.

But there were more surprises in store. “We have also studied women who reach climax by considering the movement of sexual energy through their bodies. We discovered that by thinking about the stimulation of a body-part, it’s possible to generate a response in the part of the brain (the sensory cortex) which normally responds to the physical stimulation of that body-part.”

Intriguingly, the established researcher has found that not only does thought generate brain response — it generates a greater response than would have been achieved by physical stimulation alone.

“The discovery that thinking about genital stimulation activates the genital sensory cortex in the brain will be of help to the many women who experience difficulty achieving orgasm,” he says.

That such difficulties are widely prevalent was confirmed in a recent Ann Summers survey in which 58% of the women and 10% of the men polled, admitted to faking orgasm. Most of the men faked ‘to avoid hurting a partner’s feelings’ (40%) or because they were’ too tired to fully let go’ (35%).

When there’s no faking and the orgasm arrives, there’s no way of telling in advance what type of orgasm will be experienced.

“It may feel like a little hiccup,” says Power Smith, “or it may result in the woman thrashing around and screaming, something along the lines of Meg Ryan’s demonstration in the When Harry Met Sally movie.

“More often, it’s something in between. That said, the women who tend to have smaller ones are often those who have shallow breathing... and clench [their bodies] in an effort to orgasm.”

For women who want earth-moving climaxes, and to develop their brains in the process, Prof Komisaruk has this advice: “Our research shows that simultaneous stimulation of the clitoris, vagina, cervix and nipples, or some of these areas, can produce orgasm of far greater intensity than one produced by stimulation of one of those regions alone.”

At the opposite end of the extreme are the women who have never experienced orgasm at all. Prof Komisaruk recently scheduled a meeting with one such woman. They had agreed he would carry out a brain scan to investigate the root of her problem, but the woman didn’t keep her appointment.

“She cancelled the morning of the procedure, saying she had had her first orgasm the night before, with the help of a new boyfriend.”

Perhaps it was the thought that counted.