Sexual stimulation
Sexual stimulation is any stimulus (including bodily contact) that leads to, enhances and maintains sexual arousal, and may lead to orgasm. Although sexual arousal may arise without physical stimulation, achieving orgasm usually requires it.
"Sexual pleasure" redirects here. For sexual pleasure in non-human animals, see Animal sexual behavior § Pleasure.
The term sexual stimulation implies stimulation of the genitals, but may also include stimulation of other areas of the body, stimulation of the senses (such as sight, smell, or hearing) and mental stimulation (e.g., reading or fantasizing).[1] Sufficient stimulation of the penis or clitoris usually results in an orgasm.[2][3][4][5] Stimulation can be by self (e.g., masturbation) or by a sexual partner (sexual intercourse or other sexual activity), by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods.[6]
Some people practice orgasm control, whereby a person or their partner controls the level of stimulation to prolong the experience leading up to orgasm.
Responses to sexual stimulation[edit]
Brain[edit]
When sexual stimulation is perceived, there are systems in the brain that receive the stimuli and respond to it. During physiological sexual arousal, the autonomic nervous system responds to signals from central nervous system and prepares the body for sexual activity.[62] The autonomic nervous system engages the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems, which are responsible for blood flow to genital and erectile tissues, and to muscles that participate in sexual responses.[62] This results in responses like increased breathing rate, heart rate, and pupil dilation. The limbic system also plays a part in how sexual stimuli are received.[63] A study done about pleasure and brain activity in men showed that electrical stimulation of the limbic system is highly pleasurable, and can sometimes generate orgasmic responses.[63] During genital stimulation different areas of the brain are activated in men and women. For men, a study saw that genital stimulation caused part of the cerebral cortex and the insula, which is a part of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, to activate.[64] For women, during clitoral stimulation parts of the secondary somatosensory cortex were activated.[64] In both men and women the amygdala was deactivated.[64]