From lifting your mood and sharpening your memory to easing pain and stress, here’s what truly happens in your brain when pleasure takes over.
What happens in the brain during sex? Can it boost memory, spark creativity, or ease stress? Barry R. Komisaruk, a psychologist at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, explores these questions and recently shared his insights with Time. Research in this field has progressed slowly — partly because, as Komisaruk explains, “sometimes volunteers have to be asked to masturbate inside an MRI machine.” For that reason, the science of how sex affects the brain is still very much evolving.
Effects of sex on the brain
However, scientists are beginning to unlock its mysteries. Here are 10 surprising effects sex can have on the brain:
It acts like a drug: It activates dopamine, the neurotransmitter also affected by chocolate, coffee, nicotine, and cocaine.
Antidepressant: If you don’t use a condom, semen contains estrogen and prostaglandins that cause this effect (PS: condoms remain essential for preventing sexually transmitted diseases).
It can also bring sadness: Research has shown that a third of women experience sadness after sexual intercourse. The nature of this postcoital dysphoria is still unclear.
Painkiller: A 2013 German study showed that 60% of women with migraines experienced an improvement in their symptoms during sexual intercourse.
It raises the pain threshold: Scientists suspect that oxytocin — the so-called “love hormone” released during orgasm — may help explain why some people feel less pain afterwards.
Read also: How long does good sex really last? Experts reveal what actually matters for intense pleasure
Temporarily erase memory: Particularly vigorous sexual intercourse can cause so-called transient global amnesia, a sudden but temporary memory loss.
Or it strengthens it: Studies on animals have shown that frequent sexual activity keeps the hippocampus, the brain region linked to memory, active and healthy. The same may hold for humans.
Relaxation: After sex, blood pressure tends to drop, which might explain why people often feel calmer and better equipped to handle stress or anxiety.
Stimulates the entire nervous system: At orgasm, nearly 30 neural systems light up, including the limbic system (which governs emotions), the hypothalamus (which regulates hormones), and the prefrontal cortex (linked to decision-making).
Even imagination counts: Brain activity during sexual thoughts is identical to that during masturbation; some women activate certain brain areas just by thinking about sex, as if it were actually happening.
Read more: Boost pleasure while burning calories with these sex positions that double as a workout
This article was originally published by The Editorial Staff on the Marie Claire Italy website.
