While doing some research on sex and the brain recently, I came across Dr. Daniel Amen’s writing on the somatosensory cortex of the brain—that strip of tissue on the brain in which the sensory nerve connections to body parts is laid out according to how much space it takes up on the brain. This is called a homunculus (little man). The lips and tongue take up a lot of space, of course. The thumb is pretty big too. But the really fun part is related to the feet. It turns out that the feet are located just above the clitoris. Imagine that!!

This certainly explains our fascination with shoes, doesn’t it. And it also explains why most of us can’t get enough of a good foot rub. Guess what else? Amen’s reports that a 20 minute foot massage activates receptors in muscles that stimulate the nonpainful nerve fibers, and therefore prevent pain transmission from being felt. Researchers studying this area found that after taking pain medication, those who also got a foot rub significantly reduced their pain intensity and distress compared to those who didn’t get the foot rub.

So tonight when you get home, you can say, “Honey, I have a headache. But if you rub my feet for 20 minutes, it will stimulate some other areas of my body. And you just might get lucky!!” Sound like a plan? At the very least, you can pleasure yourself by trying on some hot new shoes.

Reference: Sex On The Brain: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life, by Daniel Amens, MD, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2008.