For most, Cupid is a naked baby with feathered wings who shoots arrows into unsuspecting victims, making them instantly fall in love with one another. Cupid, however, may now come in more than one form. Scientists in North Carolina and in the United Kingdom recently have been developing technological versions of the Roman deity: implanted "sex chips" in both the brain and the waist. These experimental implants have come to the scientific forefront during the past three months, raising a variety of sexual possibilities, questions and concerns.
After studying an experiment in which a chip was implanted into a woman significantly increased her sex drive, Oxford University Senior Fellow Morten Kringelbach started researching the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain behind the eyes that derives pleasure from activities such as eating and sex. He eventually found that the orbitofrontal cortex could be a "new stimulation target" for those who suffer from anhedonia, an inability to experience pleasure from events that would normally induce it. A small, surgically implanted chip could help those suffering from the condition, and Tipu Aziz, Kringelbach's colleague and a professor of neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, has stated that he has high hopes for the technological development becoming an accessible reality during the next decade.
Implanting such a sex chip requires connecting a wire from a heart pacemaker to the brain. Although Aziz said the procedure is "intrusive and crude," future scientists may have the ability to create a chip that would be controlled by a handheld device. It could have great implications for therapy, helping those who normally cannot experience pleasure without this form of outside stimulation, he said in The Sunday Times, a British newspaper.
Belinda Overstreet, counseling and psychological services psychologist at the University's Student Health Center, also said she believes such a device could be effective in terms of therapy. "If [the device] is used for someone who is having sexual problems because of illness or injury, I think it could be helpful as long as it is something people in a relationship are talking about, is included in discussions of what is problematic in the relationship and how this would be an improvement," she said, noting that the possibility for chip implant abuse exists.
The chip also has made its way to the United States, albeit by accident. In North Carolina, Dr. Stuart Meloy recently has been developing a chip he trademarked the "Orgasmatron," mimicking the fictional machine in Woody Allen's 1973 comedy "Sleeper." According to the Los Angeles Times, Meloy made his discovery when he inadvertently implanted electrodes into the incorrect position on a patient's spine for a pain in her leg - and she suddenly had an orgasm.
Meloy's study, published in the Journal of the Neuromodulation Society, followed the implantation of a chip approved for bladder control in 11 different women, some of whom have never had an orgasm.
In this study, two electrodes were placed between the women's spines and the vertebrae. With handheld remotes, the women controlled varying degrees of electronic pulsing that stimulated a variety of nerve networks, particularly nerves near the pelvis that enter the spinal cord via the tailbone.
The device was able to sexually stimulate 10 of the 11 women. Four out of five women who had never had an orgasm received some pleasurable stimulus from the chip but were still unable to oragasm. The fifth woman did not use the device because of work-related stress, she said. Meloy speculated that perhaps the women could not orgasm because the foundations required for having an orgasm were not there in the first place. Similarly, those who had regained their ability to orgasm lost it again without the chip, he told the Los Angeles Times.
Men, who had experienced erectile dysfunction in the past, also participated in the study. They not only had the ability to maintain an erection, but also experienced a powerful ejaculation, according to Meloy's report. Meloy said these results, paired with the results from the women who were having trouble achieving an orgasm, suggest that these types of implanted devices have the potential to rehabilitate those who physically cannot experience pleasure, supporting Aziz's claim about such a device's potential for therapy.
Meloy's procedure, which he said he believes could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in two or three years, would cost about $12,000 for those who would want such a device for nonmedicinal purposes.
Overstreet said she is not too worried about the chip detracting from the emotional aspect of relationships, especially if used as directed.
"If it's hedonistic and not with the desire to do something helpful for the relationship then I don't think it's any different than casual sex," Overstreet said. "There isn't a desire to build a relationship from that."
It comes as no surprise that the introduction of the philosophical concept of predetermination into the physical realm - in the sense of being able to generate orgasms almost at will - could create controversy. While some may encourage this type of sexual research for positive rehabilitation, correction or therapy, others may be wary of the potential for abuse, both physically and emotionally.
-This story was originally printed
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