New 'Sex Drive Device' Experiment Proves that Brain Stimulation Affects Sexual Arousal

It seems smart really is the new sexy -- partly. It appears stimulating the brain can drastically affect sex drives. A new study suggests that a right nudge to the brain can be turned up or down with a new brain stimulation sex drive device.

According to New Scientist, while the study did not measure just how much sex their participants had in real life, it did measure their responsiveness. This was done by fixing customized vibrators to their genitals and gauged just how their brainwaves changed by the time they expected a "simulating buzz."

Nicole Prause at the University of California said we may want to see if "they want what you're offering," and the study could be a good model for sexual desire.

Prause and her peers make use of what's called a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) process, where a paddle held above the head will use a strong magnetic field to alter brain activity. According to New Scientist, this method has been used to treat migraines and depression and is being tailored toward preventing bed-wetting and helping those with dyslexia.

The study examined the part of the brain called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain just above the left temple that is involved in the brain's reward circuitry. Prause wondered if stimulating this area may affect people's responses about sex.

However one obvious problem was that desire assessment is very subjective, hence the vibrator. It's connected to a sheath that the penis goes in or a small hood that fits over the clitoris. Electrodes on each participant's head measured the strength of the alpha waves, which are weaker when people are sexually aroused.

Around 20 people were given TMS for two minutes that either excited or inhibited their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. And then they were taken to a room where the EEG electrodes were placed on their head, and they attached the vibrator themselves. There was also a task involving pressing buttons as fast as possible when shapes appeared on-screen as a genital "buzz" lasting for half a second or five seconds will be generated after a pause.

Prause's study showed that the participants knew they're about to be sexually stimulated even if it didn't happen yet. This is the closest we have to "measure" desire in the lab. As predicted, the participants' alpha waves were weaker.

Regardless, the participants' overall sexual responsiveness in the study correlated with the number of orgasms they had over the next three days.