Medical aspects
Physiological responses
Masters and Johnson were some of the first researchers to study the sexual response cycle in the early 1960s, based on the observation of 382 women and 312 men. They described a cycle that begins with excitement as blood rushes into the genitals, then reaches a plateau during which they are fully aroused, which leads to orgasm, and finally resolution, in which the blood leaves the genitals.In the 1970s, Helen Singer Kaplan added the category of desire to the cycle, which she argued precedes sexual excitation. She stated that emotions of anxiety, defensiveness and the failure of communication can interfere with desire and orgasm. In the late 1980s and after, Rosemary Basson proposed a more cyclical alternative to what had largely been viewed as linear progression. In her model, desire feeds arousal and orgasm, and is in turn fueled by the rest of the orgasmic cycle. Rather than orgasm being the peak of the sexual experience, she suggested that it is just one point in the circle and that people could feel sexually satisfied at any stage, reducing the focus on climax as an end-goal of all sexual activity. Males
As a man nears orgasm during stimulation of the penis, he feels an intense and highly pleasurable pulsating sensation of neuromuscular euphoria. These pulsating sensations originates from the contractions of pelvic floor muscles that begin in the anal sphincter and travels to the tip of the penis, commonly described as a "throbbing" or "tingling" sensation.
Starting in at least 2007, the term, "coregasm" was used in popular media to refer to exercise-induced orgasm or in academic parlance termed exercise-induced sexual pleasure or EISP, and an extensive discussion of the "yogasm" occurred in a 2011 Daily Beast posting. A paper published in 2012 presented results of an online survey of women who had experienced an orgasm or other sexual pleasure during exercise. The paper was widely discussed in popular media when it was published. The authors of the paper said that research on the relationship between exercise and sexual response was still lacking. Anal and prostate stimulation
In both sexes, pleasure can be derived from the nerve endings around the anus and the anus itself, such as during anal sex. It is possible for men to achieve orgasms through prostate stimulation alone. The prostate is the male homologue (variation) to the Skenes glands (which are believed to be connected to the female G-spot), and can be sexually stimulated through anal sex, perineum massage or via a vibrator. Much of the available information about prostate-induced orgasms comes from anecdotal reports by individuals, and the exact mechanisms by which such orgasms are produced are unclear; some sources suggest this occurs via stimulation of nerves in the prostatic plexus surrounding the organ, others suggest it is via nerves within the prostate itself, and others say changes in the brain (neuroplasticity) are required to derive pleasure from prostate stimulation. Regardless, prostate-induced orgasms are often reported to be intensely pleasurable.