Editing Orgasm (section)

=== Nipple stimulation ===

For women, stimulation of the [[breast]] area during sexual intercourse or foreplay, or solely having the breasts [[Physical intimacy|fondled]], can create mild to intense orgasms, sometimes referred to as a ''breast orgasm'' or ''nipple orgasm''.<ref name="Komisaruk 2" /> Few women report experiencing orgasm from nipple stimulation.<ref name="Boston" /><ref name="Kinsey">{{cite book |vauthors = Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE, Gebhard PH |title = Sexual Behavior in the Human Female |publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-253-01924-0 |page = 587 |date = 1998 |access-date = August 12, 2017 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JHWHCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA587 |quote = There are some females who appear to find no erotic satisfaction in having their breasts manipulated; perhaps half of them derive some distinct satisfaction, but not more than a very small percentage ever respond intensely enough to reach orgasm as a result of such stimulation (Chapter 5). [...] Records of females reaching orgasm from breast stimulation alone are rare. }}</ref> Before Komisaruk et al.'s fMRI research on nipple stimulation in 2011, reports of women achieving orgasm from nipple stimulation relied solely on [[anecdotal evidence]].<ref name="Smith">{{cite book |author = Merril D. Smith |title = Cultural Encyclopedia of the Breast |publisher = [[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn = 978-0-7591-2332-8 |page = 71 |date = 2014 |access-date = August 12, 2017 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qrCCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA71 }}</ref> Komisaruk's study was the first to map the female genitals onto the sensory portion of the brain; it indicates that sensation from the nipples travels to the same part of the brain as sensations from the vagina, clitoris and cervix, and that these reported orgasms are genital orgasms caused by nipple stimulation and may be directly linked to the genital sensory cortex ("the genital area of the brain").<ref name="Smith" /><ref name="Lehmiller">{{cite book |author = Justin J. Lehmiller |title = The Psychology of Human Sexuality |publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn = 978-1-118-35132-1 |page = 120 |date = 2013 |access-date = August 12, 2017 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pQRgAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT120 |archive-date = February 27, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230227055151/https://books.google.com/books?id=pQRgAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT120 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Komisaruk 2">{{br}}{{bull}}{{Cite journal |vauthors = Komisaruk BR, Wise N, Frangos E, Liu WC, Allen K, Brody S |title = Women's Clitoris, Vagina, and Cervix Mapped on the Sensory Cortex: fMRI Evidence |journal = [[The Journal of Sexual Medicine]] |date = 2011 |doi = 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02388.x |volume = 8 |issue = 10 |pages = 2822–30 |pmid = 21797981 |pmc = 3186818 }}{{br}}{{bull}}{{cite news |author = Stephanie Pappas |date = August 5, 2011 |title = Surprise finding in response to nipple stimulation |work = CBS News |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surprise-finding-in-response-to-nipple-stimulation/ |access-date = December 15, 2013 |archive-date = July 1, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160701074316/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surprise-finding-in-response-to-nipple-stimulation/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

An orgasm is believed to occur in part because of oxytocin, which is produced in the body during sexual excitement and arousal, and labor. It has also been shown that oxytocin is produced when a man or woman's nipples are stimulated and become erect.<ref name="Komisaruk 2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors = Levin R, Meston C |title = Nipple/Breast stimulation and sexual arousal in young men and women |journal = The Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume = 3 |issue = 3 |pages = 450–4 |date = May 2006 |pmid = 16681470 |doi = 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2006.00230.x |citeseerx = 10.1.1.421.7798 }}</ref> Komisaruk also relays that preliminary data suggests that nipple nerves may directly link up with the relevant parts of the brain without uterine mediation, acknowledging the men in his study who showed the same pattern of nipple stimulation activating genital brain regions.<ref name="Komisaruk 2" />