The Orgasmatron Returns...

Men and women may be able to control the extent of their sexual arousal

Getting turned on in the future might be as simple as changing the temperature on your air conditioner if research and development on a 'sex chip’ is successful. A group of scientists working at Oxford University reckon that sometime within the next decade they should be able to develop a simple implant which will aid both sexes suffering from sexual dysfunction. This could revolutionise medical treatments for erectile dysfunction and be a serious competitor to the erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.

The idea of inserting chips in the brain came from research which was used to help people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Tiny electric shocks from electrodes inserted into the brain have shown to be effective in treating Parkinson's and have boosted the quality of life for thousands of sufferers.

The problem with this treatment is that it always involves many wires being planted in the head and this is obviously impractical and therefore is only used in extreme cases. Professor Tipu Aziz from the John Radcliffe Hospital explained that research had been done on one woman whose sex drive was dramatically boosted but she chose to remove the chips as the wiring was unpleasant and often causes bleeding.

The new technologies however will be much more sophisticated and will not require externalised batteries and will easily be controlled by a simple handheld device which you could keep in your pocket. Men and women may be able to control the extent of their sexual arousal by pressing the ‘+ and –‘ buttons on their control pad.

The scientists have been experimenting on a part of the brain which is directly behind the eyes and which is referred to as the orbitofrontal cortex. This area is known to be linked to feelings of satisfaction and pleasure which come from sex and eating good food.

The research has been extensively reported on in the Nature Reviews Neuroscience Journal and has caused a great deal of excitement. Some people have compared the technology to what was featured in the Woody Allen film, Sleeper in which a woman used an Orgasmatron to achieve sexual arousal and orgasm.