If you don't already know: sex can improve our mood and relieve pain. Understanding how sex affects our brains can improve not only our sexual interactions, but can also have other positive effects on our health. The research in development has thus already produced the first results. Here are 8 reasons why you should just crawl under the sheets more often!
Sexual pleasures definitely affect your brain. This is also why the lack of sex can negatively affect your mental abilities. Recent research points to the fact that sex is actually exercise for the brain. Let's see why!
1. Sex is like a drug.
Sex makes you feel good. That's why we want him, we enjoy him, and that's why, among other things, we spend so much time looking for a suitable partner. The pleasure we experience in sex is largely due to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that activates the part of the brain that is responsible for pleasure. Among other things, dopamine is one of the chemicals that also determines the limit of "hit" or pleasure when using drugs. Cocaine and sex are not the same, of course, but both involve the same part of the brain to some extent.
2. Sex acts as an antidepressant.
A 2002 study at the University of Albany found in a sample of three hundred women that women who had sex without a condom had fewer symptoms of depression than women who had sex with a condom. Researchers hypothesized that various compounds in men's semen, including estrogen and prostaglandins, may have antidepressant properties that are then absorbed into the body after sex. This is good news for anyone who is in a serious and committed relationship, but if you are still looking for the right partner, don't give up the condom. There are other ways to improve your mood, but there are no other ways to prevent an STD.
3. After sex, you can (sometimes) rmood also falls.
Feel-good chemicals can be in full swing during intercourse itself. What about after? According to researchers, there is a so-called "post-coital blues" or PCT (post-coital tristesse), which causes a feeling of melancholy and sadness after sex. About one-third of the women who participated in the study were said to have experienced it.
4. Sex relieves pain.
Don't give up sex if you have a headache. Research shows that sex will ease symptoms. Namely, in one of the German studies, 60 % participants with migraine and 30 % participants with burst headaches experienced at least partial, if not complete, relief of symptoms by having sex during the headache. Another study found that women who stimulated their G-spots increased their pain threshold. Some researchers attribute this effect to oxytocin – the hormone of love, trust, relaxation and bonding, which, among other things, relieves pain.
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5. Sex can erase our memory.
Each year, fewer than 7 people per 100,000 experience so-called transient global amnesia, a sudden and temporary loss of memory that cannot be attributed to any other neurological condition. It can happen during more passionate sexual intercourse as well as during emotional stress, pain, minor head injuries, medical procedures and jumping into cold or hot water. A memory can be erased for a few minutes or a few hours. During this time, the person is unable to create new memories or recall recent events. Fortunately, there should be no lasting effects.
6. Sex can improve our memory.
Or they could if they were rodents. Indeed, a 2010 study found that rats that had sex at least once a day for fourteen consecutive days had an increase in the number of neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memories, compared to rats that had “ one-night stand”. The findings were supported by another study conducted on mice. Whether sex has the same effects on humans remains to be proven.
7. Sex soothes.
The same study, which demonstrated an improvement in the memory center of the brain in rats, found, among other things, that these rats were calmer. And it works in humans too. One study showed that people who had sex responded better to stressful situations, such as public speaking, than people who had no sex or engaged in other types of sexual activity. Sex lowers blood pressure.
8. Sex puts us to sleep.
It is very likely that men will be more sleepy after sex than women, and scientists think they know why: the activity of the frontal cortex decreases after sex. ejaculation slows down. In combination with the release of oxytocin and serotonin, it is responsible for feeling tired and a strong desire to sleep.
