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We have identified a novel functional sensory pathway that conveys sensory activity from the vagina and cervix directly to the brain, bypassing completely the spinal cord. This genital sensory pathway is via the Vagus nerve, and it produces brain-mediated responses to vaginal-cervical stimulation in women who have suffered "complete" spinal cord injury, at any level of the spinal cord (Komisaruk et al, 2004). These women may also show sexual responses, including orgasm, to vaginal-cervical self-stimulation. We have found that vaginal-cervical stimulation also produces a potent blockage of pain throughout the body in women and laboratory animals. The Vagus nerve pathway suggests a means to rehabilitation of sexual and other visceral function after spinal cord injury. We have published the first evidence of brain regions involved in orgasm in women (Komisaruk et al, 2004). We have published a comprehensive review of neurological, pharmacological, hormonal, and health aspects of orgasm in our book, “The Science of Orgasm,” by Komisaruk, Beyer-Flores and Whipple, Johns Hopkins University Press, to be published in October, 2006. A comprehensive review of our research has been published recently (Komisaruk and Whipple, 2005).
Book
Komisaruk, B.R., Beyer-Flores, C., and Whipple, B. (2006) The Science of Orgasm. In press. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 280 pages.
Review Articles
Komisaruk, B.R. and Whipple, B. (2005) Functional MRI of the brain during orgasm in women. Annual Review of Sex Research, 16: 62-86
Komisaruk, B.R. and Whipple, B. (2005). Brain activity imaging during sexual response in women with spinal cord injury. In: J.S. Hyde, Ed., Biological Substrates of Human Sexuality, Washington, D.C.:American Psychological Association, pp. 109-145.
Komisaruk, B.R., and Whipple, B. (2006). Neurological Impairment of Sexuality in Men and Women. In M. Tepper and A. Owens, (eds.), Sexual Health. Chapter 13, Vol. 2. In press.
Research Publications
Komisaruk, B.R., Whipple, B., Crawford, A., Grimes, S., Liu, W-C., Kalnin, A., and Mosier, K. (2004). Brain activation during vaginocervical self-stimulation and orgasm in women with complete spinal cord injury: fMRI evidence of mediation by the Vagus nerves. Brain Research, 1024: 77-88.