Six facts about the female orgasm revealed by modern science

And now, after some intense field research, a team of experts have uncovered six facts about the female orgasm, as revealed by modern science, reports a science magazine.

The six facts are as follows:

The G spot is real
The G spot is a small region in the vagina that, if stimulated, can produce wildly intense orgasms - or so goes the popular claim. But, since decades, strong evidence for the region's existence was harder to find than the spot itself.

However, in 2008, an Italian research team solved the mystery after they found anatomical differences between women who could have G-spot orgasms and women who couldn't. And since then, researchers have since begun teaching women with G spots how to put them to use.

The brain switches off
It's folk wisdom that people can't think straight when they have sex on their minds, and a brain scanning study showed that many areas of women's brains were deactivated during orgasm, including those involved in emotion.

Many women can't have orgasms
According to a 1999 survey, around 43 per cent of women in the US have some sort of problem with their sex lives.

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is so common that the very idea that it is a medical disorder has come under attack and thus efforts to develop drugs to treat it are underway.

Genes affect orgasm frequency
According to the first genetic study of the female orgasm, up to 45 per cent of the variation in women's ability to have them could be down to genes.

Many women never have orgasms during intercourse, and some also cannot have them through masturbation. Some of this may be down to external factors like upbringing, but the study showed the genetic factor is significant.

Technology can help
Perhaps the most extreme solution for sexual dysfunction among women is the so-called "orgasmatron"-an implant inserted into the spinal cord, which stimulates the user when switched on via a remote control.

Despite an initial struggle to find subjects for clinical testing, the device is now in development.

Some mystery remains
The female orgasm is a puzzle for evolutionary biologists. It is unclear why women should have orgasms at all, and it is particularly baffling that so many women should be unable to have orgasms during penetrative sex, but able to have them by masturbation.

According to researcher Elisabeth Lloyd, this implies that female orgasms are an evolutionary accident. Like male nipples, they persist simply because there is no good reason to get rid of them.