Ejaculation is a natural process that involves semen leaving the prostate and traveling down the urethra and into the bladder. Then muscles in the penis contract and semen is expelled from the urethra and out the tip of the penis (Alwaal, 2015).
While this may sound pretty gross, it actually feels pretty good. This is because of a combination of neurotransmitters and brain regions that are activated during orgasm.
Endorphins
Endorphins, also known as the feel-good hormones, are released by your body to help alleviate pain and stress. They’re responsible for the euphoria you experience after a long run, a good massage or sex. Endorphins are also found in your brain and attach to the opiate receptors in your hypothalamus and pituitary gland, where they reduce pain.
When you’re feeling low, you can eat chocolate to boost your endorphin levels. The adrenaline you get from exercise can also increase your endorphin levels. But the most famous source of feel-good endorphins is sex, which releases a cocktail of chemicals that include oxytocin and vasopressin. This is why it’s so hard to stop sex once you start.
During an orgasm, your pituitary gland gets activated by your brain and signals the release of endorphins. These neurotransmitters are a group of short peptides that can be created in your nervous system. Once they’re released, they attach to opiate receptors in your brain to reduce pain and enhance pleasure.
You can boost your level of endorphins by engaging in pleasurable activities, like sex and eating. Spicy foods can also trigger a reaction. Using SSRI antidepressants, which prevent your cells from reabsorbing serotonin, can extend the time it takes for you to reach a peak and start ejaculating.
Oxytocin
Oxytocin, also known as the “love hormone,” is a chemical that both acts as a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It is a natural substance produced in the hypothalamus and secreted during sex, childbirth, breastfeeding, and other human social behaviors. It is responsible for contractions during labor, for a woman’s ability to let down her milk for nursing, and for orgasm. It also promotes feelings of trust and empathy, and it helps us to bond with other people.
Researchers have found that during orgasm, the brain releases oxytocin in response to the vaginal stimulation, which is the reason why it feels so good. When the oxytocin is released, it activates the reward pathways in the brain. These are the same neural pathways that are activated when we experience other pleasurable activities, like listening to your favorite song, gambling, or eating a delicious meal.
Oxytocin also stimulates the secretion of serotonin and dopamine, which are natural sex hormones that make you feel happy. In addition, oxytocin can reduce pain during sex and increase sensitivity to pleasure. Scientists have also discovered that the genital sensory cortex, motor areas of the brain, hypothalamus, and thalamus all light up during orgasm. It is not entirely clear what role these brain areas play in the orgasm process, but they may be involved in regulating the initiation of ejaculation and sperm transport.
Serotonin
Serotonin (also called 5-hydroxytryptamine) is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood. It is known for its role in depression and anxiety disorders, which are why medications that increase serotonin levels help improve these conditions. But it also plays a role in other brain and body functions, including appetite, digestion, sleep, bone health, and sex drive.
Researchers have found that serotonin is released during orgasm, as well as vasopressin and oxytocin. Oxytocin is often referred to as the “love hormone” because it makes us feel good and decreases stress levels. This could explain why many people have more orgasms when they’re with their partners.
The release of serotonin during climax may help you stay in a sexual “trance” longer, as your brain is stimulated to keep you going. Serotonin also plays a role in nausea and vomiting, as it decreases the likelihood that neurons will fire action potentials. It’s also involved in blood clotting, helping your body to heal.
While many men used to fear that masturbation would make their penises fall off or cause hair to grow on their palms, it turns out that ejaculating is actually beneficial for your health. A study of 29,342 men ages 20 to 80 found that those who masturbated more frequently had lower risk of prostate cancer later in life. This was due to the release of oxytocin and serotonin, which boosts your moods and reduces stress.
Dopamine
Men’s ejaculation is an important part of reproduction and helps keep the body free from infection by removing sperm from the prostate and seminal vesicles. It also changes the pH balance in the urethra (a tube that runs from the penis to the bladder) to make it more hospitable for sperm.
Dopamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter that acts as a chemical messenger, passing messages from nerve cells to other nerve cells and the rest of the body. It’s also a hormone, a substance that regulates various bodily functions including muscle movement, blood pressure, the immune system and sexual function.
A man’s sex drive is so intense that his brain sends messages to the muscles in the pelvic area to tighten and contract. The first phase of ejaculation, known as the plateau, can last from 30 seconds to 2 minutes and involves a buildup of tensed-up muscles that lead to involuntary body movements. In the second phase, a man’s urethra starts to fill up with semen (sperm and seminal fluid) from his prostate, testes and epididymis. He then squirts the contents of his urethra out of the penis, releasing it in spurts.
Research has shown that people who have sex two or more times per week are less likely to die of heart attacks and strokes. If you’re not having sex, talk to your health care provider about how that might affect your health.
