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Would You Boost Your Libido with Brain Stimulation? New Study Suggests It’s Possible

December 15, 2016

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A treatment for depression could also improve sexual experiences.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have released a new study that shows that, through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we may someday be able to control, or even increase, sexual desire.

At first, Dr. Nicole Prause’s team began by equipping 20 volunteers with specialized genital vibrators—which must have been quite an interesting job.

Once wired up, they then hooked up a different part of their anatomy: their brains, via electrodes. This part of the experiment was to get a baseline for the volunteers’ level of arousal. In short, switch on the vibrators and measure their alpha brain waves, which tend to be shallower the more people are aroused.

“You want to see if they want what you’re offering,” Prause said to New Scientist. “This is a good model for sexual desire.”

Next, they used TMS to give the volunteers a low-intensity jolt to their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Participants’ brains were either given excitatory or inhibitory zaps of magnetic stimulation.

Then, after the zap, the researchers put the electrodes and the vibrators back on the volunteers. They were then given an interesting test: quickly push a button in response to shapes on a video screen. If they were fast enough, they got a nifty reward with a pleasant vibration to their genitals.

The result? As Prause hypothesized, the volunteers who had received an “exciting” TMS jolt experienced increased sexual arousal—and those who got the opposite charge had the opposite result. The former even reported enhanced sexual experiences after the session.

Alas, TMS zaps don’t last very long, but that may be just a technical hurdle to overcome.

In the meantime, Prause’s research seems to indicate that at some point in the future it may be possible to ramp up, or tune down, anyone’s sexual desire via tiny amounts of voltage applied to the human brain.

Or, in other words, tune in, switch on, and have fun!

Image source: John M

M. Christian

M.Christian (they/them) loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer they have six novels,12 collections, 100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to their name. Their non-fiction regularly appears in many sites, but they're most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of their erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing [they] can't write about… and brilliantly.”

Reflecting their unique ability to sympathetically and convincingly write for a range of genders and sexual orientations, their stories have appeared in multiple editions of Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Mammoth Books of Erotica, and others. Their collection of gay erotic fiction, Dirty Words, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

While a majority of their stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, their fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

As a novelist, M.Christian’s versatility is on full display with Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Brushes, Painted Doll; and the somewhat controversial queer BDSM/horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth, and Me2.

M.Christian has worked on the industry’s production side as an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books and as a Publisher for Digital Parchment Services. The latter dedicated to celebrating the works of science-fiction legends such as William Rotsler, Jerome Bixby, Jody Scott, Arthur Byron Cover, Ernest Hogan, and James Van Hise.

Covering topics like BDSM safety, sexual education, senior sexuality concerns, queer and gender issues, plus reviewing a variety of sex tech products, M.Christian’s non-fiction has appeared on sites like Kinkly, Tickle.Life, Sexpert, Queer Majority, Sex for Every Body, and—of course—their ongoing work for Future of Sex.

If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with their friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, they have lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

M.Christian is a cohost on two popular sex-education podcasts: Love’s Outer Limits with Dr. Amy Marsh and Licking Non-Vanilla with Ralph Greco, Jr.