If you’re nervous about a big presentation or talk coming up, scientists might have an odd tip for you.
They’ve found that orgasming provides a boost to cognition, possibly giving you a temporary intelligence boost.
Climaxing – for both men and women – floods the parts of the brain associated with emotion, decision-making and memory.
Plus, orgasming can help you reduce anxiety – improving overall wellbeing and making you ready to perform your best in a stressful scenario.
For these reasons, Jo Zasloff, a certified nurse midwife from New York, said: ‘I tell my patients to put having an orgasm on their to-do list’.
She believes that the five must-haves are communication, curiosity, prioritizing your partner’s pleasure, defining sex in a broad way and embracing change (stock image)
This 2011 paper from Barry R Komisaruk, a psychologist at Rutgers, showed how different types of stimulation affects different brain regions in women. Studies show a similar response in men,
Ms Zasloff, who was not involved with the research, told Vogue: ‘It’s a prescription I actually give people.’
More than 30 brain regions are stimulated when someone orgasms, Dr Barry Komisaruk, a psychologist at Rutgers who wrote a book on the science of orgasm found.
In his 2010 study, Dr Komisaruk and his colleagues put ten women into MRI scanners while they stimulated their clitoris’s or had their clitoris’s simulated by a partner.
They scanned their brains – watching the regions change as the participants moved from aroused to orgasm back to baseline again.
The participants had to push a button in the machine when they began masturbating, when their orgasm began, and when it ended, so that the researchers could match the signals in their brain with their experience of orgasm.
They found an explosion of activity across 30 different regions of the brain – which lasted about 10 seconds after their orgasm started.
When you reach that peak, your brain is flooded with neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
Dopamine helps with movement and memory as well as being a ‘feel-good’ pleasure hormone.
Serotonin helps with mood, sex drive and sleep. Oxytocin is thought of as the bonding chemical – but it also helps control stress.
These messengers latch onto regions of the brain like the limbic system and prefrontal cortex, which are responsible for emotion and memory, as well as complex thoughts and decision making.
So stimulating these parts of the brain with these chemicals can all add up to make you feel more clear headed, calm and focused – yielding a better performance outside the bedroom as well.
Dr. Jillian LoPiano, OB-GYN and Chief Health Officer at Wisp who wasn’t involved in the research, told DailyMail.com this could yield a brain boost. She said: ‘The neurotransmitters released during an orgasm are definitely proven through research that they can help sharpen the brain or temporarily boost cognitive abilities.’
Research hasn’t concluded that these effects add up over time or are long lasting, so hitting the books would probably be preferable to hitting the hay to expand your mind.
But the research has suggested there are other long term benefits to regular orgasm – including boosting blood flow, blunting chronic pain and improving sleep.
Dr Komisaruk’s other research has discovered that women who had sex while on their period were less likely to develop endometriosis – a painful uterine condition that has been linked to infertility.
Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that people who were able to have sex during lock down reported overall lower rates of depression and anxiety than those who weren’t.
Also, people who have orgasms regularly are essentially exercising, which helps beat back a number of conditions – from the common cold and flu to diabetes.
‘Sex may also be associated with beauty, as it can increase levels of DHEA, a hormone which is thought to ward off depression and promote shiny hair, glowing skin, and bright eyes,’ Dr Jessica O’Riley, a sexologist, told Glamour.
These hormonal changes, and the general sense of well-being you might have after an orgasm, could contribute to the popular idea of the ‘post-sex glow’.
‘During an orgasm, both men and women will likely feel pleasure, relaxation, and even a feeling of connection as a result of these hormones and neurotransmitters being released together,’ Dr LoPiano said.
