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Sex Makes You Smarter — Can ‘Virtual Sex’ Do The Same?
If sex makes you smarter via changes in synaptic strength following the act, can you get the same benefit from virtual sex, as long as your brain is convinced it is real at the time?
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Posted by iPan on 07/23 at 04:57 PM
Sign me up as a volunteer!
Posted by iPan on 07/23 at 05:37 PM
I would be curious to find out the effects of sexual deprivation as well, such as does it reduce hippocampal volume? Does it increase anxiety? Does it weaken synaptic connections?
Posted by iPan on 07/23 at 05:56 PM
On a related note, I also wonder if the effects are different for prostitution (for either buyer or seller)?
I'm willing to bet that someone who pays for sex suffers from diminishing returns, but this also raises the question of whether different personality types get different rewards from it.
Posted by cassandra rose on 07/23 at 10:32 PM
The more we understand and know what each part of our humans system is and operates... Amazing break thrus are happening..
I think what has happened to the human species the last 100 yrs is we have lost our ability to need the inherent life switch of us
which is the flight or fight sensory that keeps all running at optimum level due what Andrea is writing.. the stimuli is good for neuro cognitive development....
The engineered world of 20th century has afforded us a land of humans that are cyborgs and walking dead due to the fact of our bio hardwire being based on this fight or flight stimulus which we do not get at all in our daily life..
Enter sex, crime, substances, food, media etc etc that humans escape into to get this fight or flight thrill as daily living does not activate it... I have come to the conclusion this is why Men/Boys get so caught up in the video games. Gives this thrill of flight or fight that from the studies you writing here actually increase their brain power being in this state of intense avatar fighting and posturing...to WIN and of course not die...They play against others on line... all over world...
Paula Tallal Professor of Neuroscience and co-director of the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience in middle 1990's developed a study of using video games to teach reading... Her results were amazing.. What would take a individual 3 months usually to comprehend in usual format... took 3 hours to understand & comprehend using the video game format of teaching words. For more info see www.cmbn.rutgers.edu/research/tallal/
This study says a lot about what Andrea is projecting in this article about "can we get the same stimuli of brain growth using virtual sex" Should be a easy test as many volunteers and It does appear from early studies you would see instant results that verifies your hypothesis....
Posted by mjgeddes on 07/23 at 11:50 PM
Hi,
As far as I can make out, the evidence indicates that dopmaine is not the actual cause of pleasurable sensations, dopamine makes us feel desire, not pleasure. It appears that the actual sensation of pleasure is caused by opiates. See here:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/1lb/are_wireheads_happy/
Posted by iPan on 07/24 at 01:11 PM
From what I understand (which is not much), there is anticipatory pleasure, caused by seratonin, and satisfactory pleasure, caused by dopamine.
Posted by palpat on 07/25 at 11:51 PM
QUOTE from Andrea: "It would stand to reason that the more sex you have, the less anxiety you’ll have, plus you’ll increase your neural growth, ie., get smarter."
1)With that logic, guys addicted to porn and masturbating all the time, would be Einsteins, and Catholic nuns would be brain dead zombies.
Quite the opposite appears to be true - check out the nun studies on cognition.
2) Since moderate aerobic exercise stimulates neurogeneis, your logic would suggest that extreme levels of exercise, to the point of exhaustion, would also create rat Einsteins.
From the study: all rats copulated on numerous days but some did not do so every day
So some rats averaged less than a single ejaculation a day (the average was one per day).
Maybe the mounts and the physical interactions with a receptive female had more to do with neurogenesis than the ejaculation. Social animals benefit from friendly interaction, and this is likely to stimulate oxytocin release. Oxytocin has been implicated in neurogenesis. Oxytocin can also stimulate dopamine release, and activate aspects of the reward circuitry.
In addition, oxytocin has numerous studies confirming its anti-anxiety effects. Dopamine does not. In fact, dopamine agonists (drugs that mimic dopamine - think amphetamines) increase anxiety.
Suggesting that we may get smarter from virtual sex is both bad science and the worst form of reckless sensationalism.
Posted by Abstinent on 07/26 at 11:22 AM
It's like any drug, causing an excess of some chemicals in the brain, depleting them and resulting in an imbalance. Definitely feel dumber after, sometimes for days, while long-time abstinence clearly boosts thinking.
Posted by joe smith on 07/27 at 11:21 AM
Well it must be true as I read it on the Internet LOL.
I prefer a real face to face relationship, and encourage others to try you might like it.
Posted by Here That on 09/13 at 06:35 AM
Yes, Virtual Sex can make one smarter. Especially if the person has spent alot of money on the Virtual Sex Sites and is still trying to pay off the Credit Card Debt and even get the better half back!
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