Jul 5, 2023 06:31 PM
https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-...l-pleasure
EXCERPTS: Once thought to sense a drop in temperature, curious nerve-filled capsules discovered in both male and female genitals in the 1850s could play a far more arousing role in mammalian physiology. Researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US conducted experiments on mice to determine the role of structures found in the body's more delicate tissues known as Krause corpuscles.
Though yet to be peer-reviewed, the researchers' findings suggest the mysterious arrangements of nerves have nothing to do with reacting to the cold but actually specialize in transmitting mechanical vibration and 'light touches' to the central nervous system.
[...] Genetic tools also allowed the team to finally determine precisely what the nerves buried inside these structures responded to. Technically speaking, the neurons inside the mouse Krause corpuscles exhibited low mechanical thresholds and rapid adaptation, phase locking to cycles of up to 120 hertz.
To put it in a way that's more suitable for pillow talk, it's mostly thanks to these tiny structures that light brushes and vibrations often feel so oh-so-good. As for the corpuscle's speculative role in detecting chillier climes, the study found no signs of activity in response to dramatic shifts in temperature.
Based on these results alone, it's not unfair to imagine Krause corpuscles play a major role in sexual gratification in mammals. Stimulating the structures in restrained male mice – with mechanical and optogenetic attention – aroused them. Meanwhile, mice genetically engineered to lack the nerve bundles showed no signs of arousal... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Once thought to sense a drop in temperature, curious nerve-filled capsules discovered in both male and female genitals in the 1850s could play a far more arousing role in mammalian physiology. Researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US conducted experiments on mice to determine the role of structures found in the body's more delicate tissues known as Krause corpuscles.
Though yet to be peer-reviewed, the researchers' findings suggest the mysterious arrangements of nerves have nothing to do with reacting to the cold but actually specialize in transmitting mechanical vibration and 'light touches' to the central nervous system.
[...] Genetic tools also allowed the team to finally determine precisely what the nerves buried inside these structures responded to. Technically speaking, the neurons inside the mouse Krause corpuscles exhibited low mechanical thresholds and rapid adaptation, phase locking to cycles of up to 120 hertz.
To put it in a way that's more suitable for pillow talk, it's mostly thanks to these tiny structures that light brushes and vibrations often feel so oh-so-good. As for the corpuscle's speculative role in detecting chillier climes, the study found no signs of activity in response to dramatic shifts in temperature.
Based on these results alone, it's not unfair to imagine Krause corpuscles play a major role in sexual gratification in mammals. Stimulating the structures in restrained male mice – with mechanical and optogenetic attention – aroused them. Meanwhile, mice genetically engineered to lack the nerve bundles showed no signs of arousal... (MORE - missing details)