An intimate relationship with a loved one affects the structure of the brain
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Intimate relationships with a loved one affect the structure of the brain and contribute to the preservation of sexual desire for a longer period.
American sexologist David Schnarh defines sex as a chance to experience with the partner moments of special affinity and unity. In his book Intimacy and Desire, he calls them the sensorimotor moments of the meeting.
"At these moments, the heart and soul calm down, the relationship as a whole becomes more stable, the sexual attraction to the loved one is strengthened," Schnarh asserts.
Scientists believe that the key to the positive effect of having sex with a loved one lies in a phenomenon called neuroplasticity. This property of the human brain, consisting in the possibility of changing under the influence of experience. The human brain also has the ability to adapt and builds its structures, interacting with other organs.
As for sexual relations, here, in the opinion of Schnarh, the positive effect of the phenomenon of neuroplasticity is given in the case when partners maintain eye contact during sexual intercourse. In this regard, he speaks of a "volcanic fusion of the thoughts" of partners and "emotional openness."
"Sexual contact should be a joint act, not a way to satisfy desire through the body of another person," says Munich neuroscientist Ernst Peppel. As a result of various psychophysiological experiments, the scientist showed that a person can be aware of incoming information, building a single picture from it, only within a strictly defined time interval - three seconds. In other words, Peppel says, the present lasts for us only three seconds. The scientist says that two people who perform a joint action, in this case a sexual act, synchronize their three-second rhythm, and thus increase the likelihood that the highest peak of sexual desire will be achieved simultaneously.
In 2001, the neuroscientist Knut Kampe wrote in the journal Nature about why the special pleasure gives us an orgasm, during which we look in the eyes of a loved one. Thanks to the visual contact, the production of the neurotransmitter and the dopamine hormone, which is the key to the brain reward system, is increased.
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