How did that come about?
Dr. Deng has this new technique, which is four-dimensional ultrasound film. He's just experimenting with the technique, and he mentioned in one of his papers that he had a plan, he wanted to film "coitus," I think was the term that he used. I wrote him a note, and said, "Could I come whenever you have a couple that's going to do this?" And then he wrote back and said, "I'm having trouble finding a brave couple to do this, so if your organization knows somebody, let me know."
And so my organization, Mary Roach Inc., gave some thought to this, and I badgered poor Ed into doing it.
What was the experience like?
From my perspective, it was just like a kind of strange, mildly awkward medical procedure. First of all, I'm taking notes.
Talk about distracted!
Exactly. Dr. Deng is holding the wand, like you do in a fetal ultrasound, right here on my belly so it was impossible to be aroused. It's like when your gynecologist says, "Now, you're going to feel my gloved finger in your rectum." And you're like, "OK." It was that normal in a surreal way.
Rare though it may be, there have been people who had sex in an MRI machine, right?
Oh, yes. Jupp and Ida were the first people to make love in an MRI machine in 1991.
What was learned by doing that, and who were these people?
There was a Dutch physiologist, Pek van Andel, who was inspired by Leonardo's coition figures, which are a straight cutaway view of two people having sex. He brought in these two friends of his who agreed to do it, Jupp and Ida. They were acrobats. They were very physically adept. It's a very tiny space. They were the first to have managed it. In previous attempts the man couldn't maintain his erection, because you had to hold still for like a minute.
Until Viagra was invented, they couldn't do this study. They shelved it. They just completely gave up for a while, and then when Viagra came -- the "godsend," as one researcher called it -- then they were able to do it, and then there were a bunch of people whom they scanned. Ultimately what did they learn? They learned that the root of the penis is a lot longer than anybody had realized. It's two-thirds again the length of the part that you see, which was kind of interesting, but honestly I think it was more gee-whiz, let's see what we find.
How else has Viagra changed sex research?
When Viagra was discovered, and it took off in such a huge way, suddenly the Holy Grail became, "Let's find something else for the other 50 percent of the planet." So, there's been this mad rush toward finding the "female Viagra," just tremendous amounts of money funneled into that, because whoever gets the prize stands to profit in a fantastical way. So suddenly the spotlight was on women and their sexual responses.
Female sexual dysfunction is now split into libido problems, or "hypoactive desire disorder." "Hypo" as in low. It just means low libido, meaning you don't think about sex, and you're not particularly driven to have sex. And then there's a separate category for arousal disorder, where you may be very horny but the stimulation isn't doing anything for you. That's quite rare. And then there are orgasm disorders.
Vibrators used to be used by doctors to treat women who suffered from "hysteria," but you found that vibrators are still prescribed now. For what?
There's a device called the Eros Clitoral Therapy Device. Essentially, it's got a little suction cup on the end. And it does vibrate, but mostly because it has a motor. It vibrates in the same sense that an electric toothbrush vibrates, and by the way those get used as vibrators -- or they used to a lot.
This device pulls more blood to the clitoris, but so will masturbating. I called people, and I said, "OK, so what's the difference between this $400 device, and a vibrator, or just your own finger?" and they'd say, "You know, I don't really know. That's a good question!"
What Cindy Meston said, who is the woman in Texas who has the Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory, is what this does is it adds a layer of legitimacy to a device that someone might be otherwise uncomfortable using or prescribing even. A doctor can say, "Well, there's this device. It's FDA approved as something that increases women's arousal. Why don't you give it a try?"
And then they feel like they have a medical solution to a medical problem. Doctor's orders!
What were some of the things that you assumed were questions about human sexuality that science had totally resolved, which it turns out are still open questions?
What triggers ejaculation? What physiologically determines the point at which the male's apparatus just goes, "OK, let her rip!" They don't know for sure exactly what triggers it.
Orgasm as well. It's a reflex of the autonomic nervous system, but it gets triggered by everything from clitoral stimulation to somebody having their eyebrow stroked. Some people have spontaneous orgasms, which is incredibly embarrassing for them. There was this woman in Saudi Arabia who would have 13 spontaneous orgasms, out of the blue. Epilepsy sometimes triggers it. It's certainly far from simple and clear cut.
There are still mysteries out there.
About the writer
Katharine Mieszkowski is a senior writer for Salon.
Related Stories
We see dead people?
In a follow-up to her bestselling "Stiff," Mary Roach searches for proof of the afterlife -- and finds some startling (and scary) evidence.
Over your dead body
Mary Roach talks about decay, body recycling, gravediggers and her new book, "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers."
Unhappy meal
How to eat yourself to death.
Story finder (3 ways to search Salon)
Salon Directory (browse by topic)