Women 'have two pathways to sexual pleasure'

A new study has found that women have two pathways to sexual pleasure.

Researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey used brain scanners to look at which parts of a woman's brain become active when they are aroused.

They found one of the ''pathways'' is activated when a woman is alone and fantasising, while the other gets charged when she is physically stimulated by a lover, reports the Daily Mail.

The research team, led by Barry Komisaruk from Rutgers, analysed MRI scans of women reaching climax to investigate the role of imagination and 'top-down control' in triggering a physiological response.

They found heightened activity in more than 30 parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, an area which controls functions such as decision-making, controlling urges and imagination.
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In contrast, when scientists observed women being stimulated by a partner, they found that the same brain region had 'switched off' during orgasm.

"It is possible there is a difference between someone trying to mentalise sexual stimulation as opposed to receiving it from a partner," said Janniko Georgiadis of the University of Groningen in Holland.

This suggests that an orgasm is achieved with a partner when the woman 'lets go' and reaches an 'altered state of consciousness'.
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The study also concludes that an inability to do this may prevent women from reaching their climax.

The study has been published in the New Scientist