The rise in casual sex that marked the swinging ’60s actually began a decade earlier, according to a new analysis of the period when penicillin was introduced to treat syphilis. The new work directly challenges the notion that it was the contraceptive pill that ushered in the decade of free love. “It’s a common assumption […]
Tag Archives | sexual
MRI scans reveal diverse female sexual sensory palette
The notion that the clitoris is the major source of female genital sensation has been directly challenged after MRI brain scans revealed that stimulation of the vagina, cervix and nipples strongly activated three separate and distinct sites in the brain’s sensory cortex. Around 60 years ago, researchers localized in the brain exactly where all sensations […]
The harder they (don’t) cum
Findings from the largest-ever study of orgasmic and ejaculatory dysfunction suggest that orgasmic dysfunction could be as prevalent among men as it is among women. The study, appearing in the British Journal of Urology International, followed more than 12,000 men with mild to severe erectile dysfunction and found that two-thirds of those men were unable […]
Rats that ♥ cats: parasite rewires sexual attraction
Stanford University scientists have discovered that the complex and intriguing reproductive strategy exhibited by the single-celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii relies on altering the rodent brain to interpret cat odors as sexually attractive. The new findings fill a gap in existing knowledge about a most peculiar parasite that one scientist believes could also be subtly rewiring […]
Happy men not sexually attractive to women
The notion that women find “bad boys” sexually attractive gets reinforcement from a new study published in Emotion showing that happiness is not a sexually attractive emotion for men to display. The University of British Columbia study found dramatic gender differences in how men and women rank the sexual attractiveness of commonly displayed emotions, including […]
Mating choices driven by bacteria?
In a discovery that has implications for our understanding of natural selection, Tel Aviv University scientists have shown that symbiotic bacteria can greatly influence a host body’s choice of mate. The research, carried out by Eugene Rosenberg, Daniel Segel and Gil Sharon of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, appears in the […]
Strumpet gene puts infidelity into DNA
Individuals with a certain genetic variant are more likely to have a history of uncommitted sex, including one-night stands and acts of infidelity, according to Binghamton University researchers. The new study takes a broad look at sexual behavior, matching choices with genes, and has come up with a new twist on human sexual drivers. The […]
Women more likely to bed men in red
The color red is a symbol of courage and sexuality, of power and passion – and new research suggests it also makes men more alluring to women. The new study, appearing in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, found that women from the United States, England, Germany and China, found men more appealing when they […]
Mind and body clash over sexual arousal
Women’s minds and genitals often disagree about sexual arousal, suggests a new meta-study that compared subjective ratings and physiological measures of sexual arousal in men and women. Published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the study confirms long suspected gender difference in the body’s responses to sexual stimuli. Researcher Meredith Chivers, from Queen’s University in […]
Ugly males more fertile
Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to increase the odds of producing offspring across a range of females, suggesting that couplings with attractive males may be less fruitful than those with unattractive ones. The new findings, published in American Naturalist, are based on mathematical models representing a range of male ejaculation strategies. The researchers, […]