--- title: 8 Ways Sex Affects Your Brain description: It can boost your mood, relieve pain, and more canonical: https://time.com/3689474/8-ways-sex-affects-your-brain/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-02T16:05:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:57.086Z article:section: Health og:title: 8 Ways Sex Affects Your Brain og:description: Doing the deed can boost your mood, relieve pain, and more og:url: https://time.com/3689474/8-ways-sex-affects-your-brain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 8 Ways Sex Affects Your Brain twitter:description: Doing the deed can boost your mood, relieve pain, and more twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 8 Ways Sex Affects Your Brain > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=24801a89-18d6-45c9-9201-521e597dcc1c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Feb 2, 2015 4:05 PM UTC by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Feb 2, 2015 4:05 PM UTC Understanding how sex affects your brain can improve your roll in the hay, and it may also shed light on other parts of your health, says Barry R. Komisaruk, PhD, distinguished professor of psychology at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. It’s not the easiest subject to study—test subjects might have to masturbate inside an MRI machine—so research is still developing. But scientists are starting to unravel the mystery. Here’s what we know so far about your brain on sex. **Sex is like a drug** [Sex makes us feel good](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20845824,00.html). That’s why we want it, like it, and spend so much time hunting for mates. The pleasure we get from sex is largely due to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that activates the reward center of the brain. Dopamine is also one of the chemicals responsible for the high people get on certain drugs. “Taking cocaine and having sex don’t feel exactly the same, but they do involve the same \[brain\] regions as well as different regions of the brain,” says Timothy Fong, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. [Caffeine](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20845824,00.html), nicotine, and chocolate also tickle the reward center, says Komisaruk. **Sex can act like an antidepressant** A 2002 study out of the University at Albany looked at 300 women and found that those who had sex [without a condom](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20307085,00.html) [had fewer depressive symptoms](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12049024) than women who did use a condom. The researchers hypothesized that various compounds in semen, including estrogen and prostaglandin, have antidepressant properties, which are then absorbed into the body after sex. (They corrected for other things that might affect both mood and [condom use](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20418342,00.html), such as being in a serious relationship or use of oral contraceptives.) This is good news for anyone who is in a committed relationship, but if you’re still playing the field, then you shouldn’t give up condoms. There are other ways to boost mood, but really no other way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. **Read more:** [13 Reasons to Have More Sex](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20845824,00.html?xid=time-sex-brain-012815) **Sex can (sometimes) be a downer** Those feel-good chemicals may be going full blast during the act, but after? According to researchers, there is such a thing as [post-sex blues](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19317611.2010.509689#.VL%5FvRWTF%5FCY) (technical term: postcoital dysphoria). About one-third of the women participating in one study reported having experienced [sadness](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20854499,00.html) after sex at some point in time. While it’s possible that regret or feeling coerced might be the reason why, researchers can’t explain the connection at this point for sure. **Sex relieves pain** Don’t skip sex when you have a headache. Research shows that doing the deed may [relieve your symptoms](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20655874,00.html). In a 2013 German study, 60% of participants who had migraines and 30% of cluster-headache sufferers who had [sex during a headache](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23375440) episode reported partial or total relief. Other studies have found that women who stimulated an area of the G spot had an elevation in pain threshold. “It took greater pain stimulus for them to feel the pain,” says Beverly Whipple, PhD, a professor emerita at Rutgers University who has conducted some research on the topic. Whipple didn’t study why this was so, but other researchers have attributed the effect to oxytocin, the so-called bonding hormone that helps mothers and babies bond and which also has [pain-relieving properties](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20845824%5F8,00.html). **Read more:** [20 Weird Facts About Sex and Love](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20824699,00.html?xid=time-sex-brain-012815) ### Sex Ed Books Through the Ages  “Those who look at our bodily dwelling can gain a very good idea of what we are... The care of our body, then, adds to our value,” advised Barbara Wood-Allen in 1897's "Self and Series: What a Young Girl Ought to Know."  "When the organs peculiar to woman are displaced or disordered ...pangs shoot through her like winged piercing arrows or darting needlepoints" wrote mail order doctor Lydia Pinkham in 1907.  Published by the Christian Education Service, of Nashville, Tennessee, during the 60s, it was written by one of the founders of SIECUS  "When the natural God-designed and God-honored sex instinct is perverted and base desire supplants love, in the choice of a companion, the home instinct is degraded, love dethroned and inharmony prevails," wrote Thomas Washington Shannon in 1913.  "It is probably best, that the life-like illustrations, some of them photographic, in books of human anatomy be kept away from boys of early adolescent age" counseled Maurice Alpheus Bigelow in 1916.  "... the woman so under the influence of liquor is, for the time being, little more than a "cave woman," or barbarian, with all the lax sex morality of the latter," wrote R.B. Armitage in 1917  This 1928 volume was directed to the "young man whose aim is to be sturdy, strong and successful."  "Dr. Norman Carr," the pamphlet informed readers in 1934, "is probably the most widely read author on this subject in the entire world."  First issued in 1949, this booklet warned: "Don’t forget that any woman who lets you use her, or who consents easily, is not safe."  From 1941, "An intellectual and frank discussion of subjects of Social Hygiene, Physiology, the Science of Sex, Moral Living, Character Building, Motherhood and PreNatal Care."  This 1941 manual includes a diagram entitled "Facts you Should Know for Defloration on Bridal Night."  This 1943 book kept in simple with little line drawings accompanying text like: "Here is the way you looked when you were ready to be born..."  The author of this 1944 guide, Belle Mooney, was touted as "a well-known physician pioneer and lecturer on hygienic and sociological subjects."  "Sooner or later your children are going to learn about sex. They ought to. They must," wrote Fathers Rumble and Carty in this 1950 textbook for Catholics.  Written in 1950 by pioneering sexologist David Cauldwell, who's credited with inventing the term transexual.  In cheerful 1950 parlance it reads: "Lucky boys and girls whose parents, teachers and leaders provide this book for them! It would be a good idea for the old folks to read it too."  "The smart writer... who says flatfootedly or insinuates cleverly that sex experience before marriage is necessary for happiness in marriage is a plain liar and an elaborate traitor to young people," cautioned Daniel Lord in 1951.  "Here is a complete analysis of young people's sexual problems and mores—from kindergarten to college —a comprehensive case-history study of the new rebellion," promised this 1962 paperback.  "Before boys are ready to get married and start a family, they must at least be able to earn a living," claimed this otherwise very hip Lutheran church publication in 1967.  "At the most basic level, a concern with sex education must stem from the recognition that human socio-sexual development is a learning process," said this scholarly 1974 journal.  This 1974 pamphlet was part of a collection of self help books from Ms. Landers including: “Teen-age Sex. And 10 Ways to Cool It!” and “Love or Sex. And How to Tell the Difference.”  From 1983: "Ugly women have boyfriends, mean women have boyfriends, hopelessly insecure women have boyfriends, stupid women have boyfriends, women covered with hideous warts have boyfriends."  This 1993 book claims that "classroom sex education is always wrong and always harmful; that it destroys modesty; awakens the passions; promotes sexual activity and fosters acceptance of sexual sins."  "Sex is many different things, and people have many different feelings and opinions about it," says this 1994 classic, in admirable understatement. Read more: Why Schools Can't Teach Sex Ed **Sex can wipe your memory clean** Each year, fewer than 7 people per 100,000 experience “global transient amnesia,” a sudden but temporary [loss of memory](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2600033/) that can’t be attributed to any other neurological condition. The condition can be brought on by [vigorous sex](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18829203), as well as emotional stress, pain, minor head injuries, medical procedures, and jumping into hot or cold water. The [forgetfulness](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20845146,00.html) can last a few minutes or a few hours. During an episode, a person cannot form new memories or remember very recent events. Fortunately, there seem to be no lasting effects. **Sex may boost your memory** Or at least it might if you’re a rodent. A 2010 study found that, compared with rats who were allowed only one one-night stand, rodents who engaged in “chronic” sex (once a day for 14 consecutive days) [grew more neurons](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0011597) in the hippocampus, a region of [the brain](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20892550,00.html) associated with memory. The findings were backed up by a second study, also in mice. It remains to be seen if regular sex also has this effect in humans (but you can always tell yourself it does). **Read more:** [10 Reasons You’re Not Having Sex](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20339292,00.html?xid=time-sex-brain-012815) **Sex calms you down** The same study that linked frequent sex to a brain boost in rats also found that the rats were less stressed. This works for humans, too. One study found that people who’d just had sexual intercourse had better [responses to stressful situations](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20765943,00.html) like public speaking than people who had not, or who had engaged in other types of sexual activity. How did sex [ease stress](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20843057,00.html)? In this case, by [lowering blood pressure](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15961213). **Sex makes you sleepy** Sex is more likely to [make men sleepy](http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/329185) than women, and scientists think they know why: The part of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex winds down after ejaculation. This, along with the release of oxytocin and serotonin, may account for the “rolling over and [falling asleep](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20432140,00.html)” syndrome. **Read more:** [Best and Worst Foods for Sex](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20668823,00.html?xid=time-sex-brain-012815) _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20894914,00.html?xid=time-sex-brain-012815) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com)_._ _Read next:_ [_5 Things You Need To Know About Kissing_](http://time.com/3690851/5-kissing-facts/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3689474/8-ways-sex-affects-your-brain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3689474/8-ways-sex-affects-your-brain/"},"headline":"8 Ways Sex Affects Your Brain","datePublished":"2015-02-02T16:05:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:57.086Z","description":"It can boost your mood, relieve pain, and more","url":"https://time.com/3689474/8-ways-sex-affects-your-brain/","keywords":["Sex/Relationships","Brain","Sex","relationships","Wellbeing"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Health.com","jobTitle":"Contributor","url":"https://time.com/author/health-com/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sexrelationships/","name":"Sex/Relationships"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3689474/8-ways-sex-affects-your-brain/","name":"8 Ways Sex Affects Your Brain"}}]}] ```