Page 34 - AVN April 2017

TECH NEWS
SEX ON THE BRAIN
Researchers delve into what turns us on, and how
SEX STARTS BETWEEN
THE EARS AS YOUR BRAIN
INFLUENCES THE KIND OF SEX
YOU WANT TO HAVE, FROM ROMANTIC, PLAYFUL, INTIMATE, TO EROTIC OR WILD
—DR. AVA CADELL
SEXPLORATIONS | By Anka Radakovich
YOUR BRAIN IS YOUR BIGGEST SEX ORGAN, and contrary to the idea that the penis has
a mind of its own and controls the brain, it’s actually the other way around. Several
studies have explored what’s going on in that pulsating, throbbing brain of ours.
YOUR BRAIN ON PORN
A study of the brain and sex revealed that “all three phases of the sexual pleasure
cycle”— wanting sex, having sex and not wanting sex—are due to the cerebral cortex
area of the brain.
The study, which appeared in The National Journal of Clinical Anatomy Review in India,
also found that sexual dysfunction occurs when there are “alterations” in this brain
area that controls sex.
“For all its primitive functions, human sex draws heavily on the functionality of
the part of the brain that has evolved most recently, the cerebral cortex,” said lead
researcher Dr. Janniko Georgiadis from the University of Groningen in Netherlands.
The study researched participants who took part in “sexually stimulating activities”
such as watching porn, and then studied how the brain reacts when varying
emotional or physical changes are brought into the mix.” Dr. Georgiadis has also
studied the brain and orgasm. “Orgasm is tied into the brain’s reward system. There
is much we can learn about the brain, about sensation, about how pleasure works.”
So next time you want to have sex, just ask your brain.
Your Brain on BDSM
Another study has found that BDSM alters the brain’s chemistry and creates
altered states of consciousness. The study was called “Consensual BDSM Facilitates
Role-Specific Altered States of Consciousness: A Preliminary Study.”
Researchers recruited seven couples who practice “consensual BDSM” including
couples in long-term as well as polyamorous relationships. One couple met on the
day of the study! (“Hi, nice to meet you! Spank the crap out of me and we’ll see what
it does to our brains!”)
The study was published in the journal Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research,
and Practice. According to the findings, “Research has tested whether BDSM activities
actually facilitate altered states. To this end, we randomly assigned 14 experienced
BDSM practitioners to the bottom role (the person who is bound, receiving
stimulation, or following orders) or the top role (the person providing stimulation,
orders, or structure) for a BDSM scene.” Just another day at the S&M sex lab.
The results showed that “Topping was associated with an altered state aligned with
Csikszentmihalyi’s flow, and bottoming was associated with an altered state aligned
with Dietrich’s transient hypofrontality as well as some facets of flow.” (Just saying
that last sentence out loud should get you excited.)
An earlier study found bottoms had higher cortisol levels during their scenes, while
tops did not. That’s somewhat expected—bottoms are usually experiencing pain,
which should, accordingly, stress out their bodies and increase their levels of stress
hormone. And after a mutually enjoyable encounter, both tops and bottoms showed
decreased cortisol levels. Additional results suggest that BDSM activities were
associated with reductions in psychological stress and increases in sexual arousal.”
Relax, it’s just hardcore bondage and sadomasochism.
Brad Sagarin, a psychology professor at Northern Illinois University who worked
on the study, told Time what happens is “the rest of the world drops away and you are
completely focused on what you’re doing.” Sagarin explained that the “flow state” is
what occurs when individuals lose themselves in an activity they’re good at.
34 | AVN.com | 4.17
Zapping Your Brain
Other researchers studied whether zapping the brain can alter a person’s sex
drive. The study, “EEG to Primary Rewards: Predictive Utility and Malleability
by Brain Stimulation,” found that stimulating the reward centers of the brain can
make people horny.
Participants aged 18-55 were hooked up to machines. Their left dorsolateral
pre-frontal cortexes were then excited. In the name of science, female subjects
had their hoo-has hooked up to vibrators (the classic Hitachi wand) and guys
had their schlongs attached to “guybrators” to measure their sexual response.
Participants in the study reported having a bunch of orgasms a few days after
the study, due to their brains being stimulated. The take-away from the study
was that compulsive sexual behaviors could someday be clinically controlled, and
that low sex drives could be stimulated with a brain zapper.
How to Have a BrainGasm
“Sex starts between the ears as your brain influences the kind of sex you want
to have, from romantic, playful, intimate, to erotic or wild,” says Dr. Ava Cadell,
author of Neurolovelogy: The Power to Mindful Love and Sex. “It releases a powerful
cocktail of brain chemicals as the sensations of pleasure travels between your
legs,” she says. Thank you, brain!
Cadell’s online university, Loveology University, offers classes to improve the
average person’s sex life, and she hopes everyone can achieve a “BrainGasm.”
“With millions of nerve endings in the brain devoted to the lips, passionate
kissing is essential to achieve a BrainGasm,” she says. Then she suggests
“focusing on your partner with your full attention by looking deep into their eyes
to release oxytocin.”
Using tantra integration techniques, she says, “Put your hand on each other’s
heart to light the emotional fire centers for a heart-mind-body connection. The
amygdala induces sexual energy from the brain as low serotonin levels make you
feel intense emotions as if two hearts beat as one,” she says. It’s boner time.
And for more cerebral fun, she advises teasing each other by “taking your
partner’s breath away by using your breath around their most sensitive
erogenous zones, from the top of their neck to the tip of their toes. When you
blow your cool breath on the left side of your partner’s body, you are stimulating
the right side of their brain. Watch your partner’s muscles contract with
pleasure, controlled by the cerebellum.”
“Your partner should be begging you to touch them by now,” she says. “With
the first erotic touch on the nipples, toes or sexual organs, the brain’s sensory
cortex region fires up. Neurons linked to your erogenous zones communicate
with the sensory cortex, to activate the brain regions that produce orgasm.
“Oral sex, sexual intercourse and anal sex activate the hippocampus, a region
of the brain that evokes mind-blowing sensations, while the frontal cortex
induces erotic fantasies, and the cerebellum triggers body-melting sexual
tension. This can all result in an earth-shattering, energy-melting, all-embracing
BrainGasm.”
Anka Radakovich is a legendary sex columnist who wrote a groundbreaking column for Details
magazine. Currently she writes for British GQ and Sexpert.com. She is the author of three books,
including her newest, The Wild Girls Club, Part 2. She has appeared multiple times on TV talk
shows, including eight appearances with Conan O’Brien. She is also a certified sexologist. We
are thrilled to have her as a contributor. Follow Anka Radakovich on Twitter: @ankarad.