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At orgasm, part of the brain switches off

Scanners found deactivation where nobody expected it.

At orgasm, part of the brain switches off

Brain imaging during orgasm consistently shows something counterintuitive: large areas of the prefrontal cortex go quieter, not busier. The most reliable finding is a marked drop in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex — the region associated with self-evaluation, behavioural control and vigilance.

The researchers described the state as a release of inhibition rather than an addition of stimulation. It fits what people report and what has never been easy to explain physiologically: that the obstacle is more often being unable to stop monitoring oneself than being unable to feel enough.

Sources

Georgiadis et al., European Journal of Neuroscience (2006); Masters & Johnson (1966)

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General information, not medical advice. Anything persistent or painful belongs with a doctor, who has heard it before.