ArticleSocioaffective neuroscience & psychology2016
What is orgasm? A model of sexual trance and climax via rhythmic entrainment.
Article in Socioaffective neuroscience & psychology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07746297 (PANHIS - Pan-Hispanic Adult Sexual Health International Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
PANHIS - Pan-Hispanic Adult Sexual Health International Study: a Cross-sectional Online Study of Sexual Health, Sexual Behaviour and Expanded States of Consciousness Associated With Orgasm in Spanish-speaking Adults
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Urogenital dysfunction in neurological diseases.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- On the varieties of conscious experiences: Altered Beliefs Under Psychedelics (ALBUS).Neuroscience of consciousness · 2025Article
- A new look at the theoretical causes of endometriosis: Narrative review.International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2024Review
- Love songs and serenades: a theoretical review of music and romantic relationships.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- A psychometric evaluation of the Female Sexual Function Index in women treated for breast cancer.Cancer medicine · 2022Article
- From Micro to Macro: The Combination of Consciousness.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Resonance as a Design Strategy for AI and Social Robots.Frontiers in neurorobotics · 2022Article
- The Radically Embodied Conscious Cybernetic Bayesian Brain: From Free Energy to Free Will and Back Again.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Non-pharmacological and non-surgical strategies to promote sexual recovery for men with erectile dysfunction.Translational andrology and urology · 2017Review
- Introductory editorial to 'Orgasm: Neurophysiological, Psychological, and Evolutionary Perspectives'.Socioaffective neuroscience & psychology · 2016Article
- The Effect of Female Orgasm Frequency on Female Mate Selection: A Test of Two Hypotheses.Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behaviorArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Orgasm is one of the most intense pleasures attainable to an organism, yet its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. On the basis of existing literatures, this article introduces a novel mechanistic model of sexual stimulation and orgasm. In doing so, it characterizes the neurophenomenology of sexual trance and climax, describes parallels in dynamics between orgasms and seizures, speculates on possible evolutionary origins of sex differences in orgasmic responding, and proposes avenues for future experimentation. Here, a model is introduced wherein sexual stimulation induces entrainment of coupling mechanical and neuronal oscillatory systems, thus creating synchronized functional networks within which multiple positive feedback processes intersect synergistically to contribute to sexual experience. These processes generate states of deepening sensory absorption and trance, potentially culminating in climax if critical thresholds are surpassed. The centrality of rhythmic stimulation (and its modulation by salience) for surpassing these thresholds suggests ways in which differential orgasmic responding between individuals-or with different partners-may serve as a mechanism for ensuring adaptive mate choice. Because the production of rhythmic stimulation combines honest indicators of fitness with cues relating to potential for investment, differential orgasmic response may serve to influence the probability of continued sexual encounters with specific mates.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.