You’d think with America’s cultural obsession with sex, youth, and big, juicy brains, we’d have more research on sexual neuroscience. That is the subject of this Mind Hacks post, which notes that only recently have published reports shown definitive links between brain activity and sexual desire – and a bizarre connection to seizures in one Taiwanese study:
One of their 41 year-old female patients, diagnosed with epilepsy,
had a seizure every time she brushed her teeth. Seizures in response to
external stimulation are not unusual – flashing lights are a well known
source – and other sorts of stimulation are not uncommon triggers. A
recent case-report even involved seizures induced by vacuum cleaner use.So the unusual aspect for the Tiawanese case was not the trigger,
but the effect of the seizure. The woman had seizures when she brushed
her teeth, and had an orgasm every time she had a seizure, shortly
before losing consciousness.Although probably doing wonders for her dental health, the condition
has left neurologists rather puzzled. Because so little is known about
sex and the brain, her doctors had very little to go on when they tried
to explain what was happening.
It can’t be the fault of scientists, horny and lonely nerds to their core, for avoiding this particularly gratifying research area. So who’s to blame for the dearth of research? The media, of course!
It’s exactly the sort of science that the press loves to go giggly
about. News stories tend to be gleefully reported, virtually free of
any actual news. "Sex researchers study sex" seems to make headlines
where "hiccup researchers study hiccups" seems to barely raise a byline.This type of reporting tends to put off scientists, who want to be
seen as serious researchers [on subjects like this], and funders, who want to be seen as
supporting important research. Science marches on however, and luckily
for us all, some scientists are not disuaded by the accompanying media
circus.
Here’s a thought for the insane clown-hating posse of scientists: circuses are FUN. Reporters, second only to scientists in horny loneliness but first in binge drinking, enjoy salacious stories for the same reason we all do. They have to cover government meetings and inane press conferences, interview alternately boring and hostile CEOs and city council members, and endure complaints from every segment of society on a daily basis. You can’t blame them for having a little fun with the occasional sex ‘n’ science story, which has the added benefit of grabbing readers’ attention for more than a few seconds on an otherwise dry subject. (On a related topic, Slate’s Mickey Kaus recently described the civic virtues of gossip in the LA Times.) Would you really make it through a 1,000-word article with this passage if it were about hiccups?
Instead they asked couples to practice at home. The participant’s
partner (who had the more difficult task by far) needed to be be able
to make her partner ejaculate – while he was standing, being injected
by radiation, watched by neuroscientists and, most importantly, during
a precise 50 second time-slot.
With all credit to the women involved, 8 ejaculations were recorded from the eleven men who volunteered.
Thank you, media, for teaching through titillation. (Via Boing Boing.)
[Also cross-posted at The Smoking Room.]
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.