Red-haired women have genetically different pain thresholds than the rest of the female population, according to a leading neuroscientist.
And in a separate study, they also have the highest orgasm rate (41 percent) of all hair types.
Professor Irene Tracey, nicknamed the ‘Queen of Pain’, says geneticists are getting closer to understanding why studies suggest redheads have a lower tolerance for pain caused by heat or cold temperatures, but are less sensitive to pain caused by electric shocks.
But he added that the research was challenging because pain was subjective.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Professor Tracey, vice-chancellor of Oxford University, said “good science and good therapies” should give hope to people facing chronic pain, “one of the biggest problems in the world.” developed world”.
And he added: ‘Is there a genetic difference between people who have different types of pain: men, women? There is often a comment about women with red hair and those without having a different genetic basis for how they experience the pain threshold.
A report in the medical journal Anesthesiology said redheads’ pain thresholds were linked to a hair gene mutation that partially deactivates a sensory receptor.
That changes the balance between tolerance and sensitivity, depending on the type of pain experienced. Redheads are rare (less than 2 percent of the world’s population), making them prime subjects for research into the anecdotal traits attributed to them.
Red-haired women have genetically different pain thresholds than the rest of the female population, according to a leading neuroscientist
Isla Fisher attends the Vanity Fair 2024 Oscars party
A report in the medical journal Anesthesiology said redheads’ pain thresholds were linked to a hair gene mutation that partially deactivates a sensory receptor.
Meanwhile, a study by Hamburg University researcher Dr. Werner Habermehl made surprising revelations about your orgasm rate.
“The sexual lives of red-haired women were clearly more active than those of other hair colors, with more partners and having sex more frequently than average,” he said.
“Research shows that the fiery redhead lives up to her reputation.” A 2022 Czech study of red-haired women concluded that they exhibited “higher sexual desire, higher sexual activity, higher number of sexual partners… and a higher level of sexual submission.”
However, after analyzing data from 110 women (34 percent of whom were redheads) and 93 men (22 percent redheads), they suggested that genetic variations were only one explanation and social stereotypes: “labeling ‘redheaded women as more sexually permissive’ – could be a factor.