Why do women have orgasms? Scientists claim to have solved evolutionary mystery

Female orgasms once had a genuine reproductive purpose, according to scientists

The female orgasm has baffled scientists for centuries.
Scholars as far back as Aristotle have questioned why women have evolved to have orgasms at all - as they play no obvious role in human reproduction.

However, new research by scientists at Yale and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital has revealed that the female orgasm may once have had an extremely important purpose.

The female orgasm stimulates the production of two hormones in the brain, called prolactin and oxytocin.

In many mammals, the production of these hormones acts as a trigger for the ovaries to release an egg, according to the researchers.

 

In some species, ovulation is actually induced by the male - in other words, the female only produces an egg after having an "orgasm".

Although, these days, the human ovarian cycle does not depend on sexual activity, the scientists believe that human reproduction may once have operated this way.

It was only later that "cyclical" ovulation evolved - otherwise known as the menstrual cycle - and the female orgasm became superfluous from a reproductive perspective.

The scientists said that the evolutionary shift from "induced ovulation" to "cyclical ovulation" may also have prompted the relocation of the clitoris from inside the vagina to outside.

"This anatomical change made it less likely that the clitoris receives adequate stimulation during intercourse to lead to the neuro-endocrine reflex known in humans as orgasm," they said.

(Photo: Getty)

 Before you get too depressed, the scientists added that the evolutionary ancestor of the orgasm probably wasn't what we think of as an orgasm today.

"It is important to stress that it didn't look like the human female orgasm looks like now," said Mihaela Pavlicev, who helped lead the study.

"We think that [the hormonal surge] is the core that was maybe modified further in humans."
Well that's something at least.

This study appeared in the August 1 edition of the journal JEZ-Molecular and Developmental Evolution.