Erotic Rediscovery Of Self Why Would Adults Need To Know About Neurobiology?

0:00All right, so welcome to Eros, the erotic rediscovery of self.

0:07I'm so happy that you're here.

0:10If you're wondering, you know, what kind of content to expect or why would you stay for

0:15the remainder of the videos in the course, we have three main reasons for you.

0:21The first one is to have better sex and that could mean a lot of different things to a

0:27lot of different people.

0:28But in reality, part of the goal of this course is to improve your sex life.

0:33And in order to do that, you have to have some fundamental knowledge, not only let's

0:38say of your anatomy, but the anatomy of your partner and ways in which you can communicate

0:42about things that you desire or things that may be not so much.

0:48And so the first one is to have a better and more satisfying sex life.

0:52The second one is to really be able to help minimize the likelihood that you will need

0:59additional help as much as what is reasonable.

1:02So if there are some practical strategies, things like Sensate Focus, and some other

1:08things that you know about your body, about your partner's body, there are some things

1:12that you could try that eliminate the need for you to have to go to therapy or waste

1:18time in therapy or a doctor's office if you already know and have tried some of the basic

1:23or introductory strategies that we would all suggest anyway.

1:27So it arms you with more information and hopefully saves you a little bit of money in the back end.

1:32And the third one is to improve relationships, not just with yourself, but with your partner

1:40or partners and maybe your family or your children, whether you have them now or you

1:44may have them later on.

1:46The more that we talk about these kind of things, the less taboo they become.

1:51And the more comfortable your children or your partner, partners are in talking about

1:56them with you, the less fear is associated and less stigma associated around sex and

2:03sexual discussion.

2:04So those are the main three things that I hope that everybody takes away that watches

2:09these courses.

2:10And so we're going to get started with the largest sex organ in the body.

2:14And that is your brain.

2:17So why do we talk about the brain in the neurobiology of sex?

2:22Well, the main reason is because that is the epicenter of everything that we talk about

2:30in terms of body function, sexual functioning and arousal.

2:34So we're going to go through some of the basic tenets of sexual neurotransmitters and the

2:42sexual physiology and hopefully give ourself a better understanding of not only how our

2:48body functions, but also maybe how our partner or partner's bodies function.

2:53So the first thing we're going to talk about are some of the neurotransmitters and

2:57neurochemicals related to sex and attachment.

3:02The first one that we're going to discuss and that you probably have heard a lot about

3:07is dopamine.

3:08And dopamine is the happiness neurotransmitter, the happiness hormone.

3:14So it is responsible for pleasure seeking.

3:18Now, we're going to talk a little bit more in depth about this in trauma, just because

3:23it's helpful for us to understand the overlaps there between trauma and sex in the brain.

3:30But dopamine is a motivating hormone.

3:35It's something that we need in order to seek out certain rewards.

3:43And the more that dopamine gets released when we seek those things out, the more likely

3:48we are to do those things again.

3:51This is also important, not just for discussions around sex and things that we like and promoting

3:58that bonding between people.

4:00But it's also important that we understand these things when we're trying to reinforce

4:04more effective behavior in, let's say, our children, our partners.

4:08If we really like when they're doing something, regardless of what that thing is, if we praise

4:14that, it is more likely to have some sort of subsequent dopamine release.

4:18Therefore, they are more likely to do it.

4:20That is why promoting positive behavior or rewarding positive behavior is more likely

4:27to get you those things in the future, as opposed to only punishing the quote unquote

4:31bad behavior.

4:33So dopamine, oxytocin is the next hormone or the next neurotransmitter, neurotransmitter

4:42that we're going to talk about.

4:43And that is what we know typically as the love or bonding ones.

4:49So why is oxytocin important?

4:53Well, it promotes bonding amongst people when, let's say, evolutionarily that wasn't always

5:01in the best interest of the individual.

5:04So our children depend on us in order for us to care for them, right?

5:10And oxytocin would promote that caregiving or that attachment between mother and child,

5:17also between father and child, but between each other, because children would not necessarily

5:25be able to survive without the adults.

5:27But at the same time, it's not always in our best self-interest to take care of other

5:34people, if you think about it.

5:36And so I don't mean that in a negative sense.

5:39I'm just suggesting that oxytocin plays a vital and pivotal role in family function

5:45and attachment.

5:46And it is a very, very powerful neurotransmitter.

5:51And so it's one that we want to pay attention to, but also one that we want to promote when

5:56we're able, because it facilitates that very deep and meaningful bonding between people.

6:03Another one that we're going to talk about are some neurochemicals.

6:08So testosterone, estrogen, progesterone.

6:12We'll talk a little bit about dopamine here again, in terms of what it does a little bit

6:18deeper.

6:19And part of what we do here is we look at what do each of these things play a role in?

6:30So testosterone is a steroid neurochemical that is found in higher levels in biological

6:39males and is actually a precursor to some of the other neurochemicals we're going to

6:47talk about.

6:47So while it may be higher in men than women, women still need testosterone in order to

6:54serve as a precursor for things like estrogen and progesterone.

7:00So one of the things that we know about testosterone is that it really promotes

7:06libido.

7:07It promotes, also could promote desire, but in too high of quantities, it can promote

7:14things like aggression.

7:16And in men and women alike, it can also do things like promote acne, oily skin, and a

7:27bunch of other kind of cascading effects in the body.

7:29So it's important to know, especially if somebody is going into, a male is going into

7:35some sort of hormone replacement, that there are signs that it is too high or too much,

7:41because we think we're very much on a trend of like replacing testosterone, but not all

7:47testosterone is clinically low, or it's not all necessary for replacement.

7:55Estrogen is also a steroid neurochemical that helps with things like regulating the

8:01menstrual cycle.

8:02It helps with reproduction, but estrogen is also important in lower levels in males

8:08because it is necessary for sperm production.

8:12It's also really important for mental health.

8:15And so when we think about, you know, estrogen or testosterone, although they may be higher

8:21in males or females, it's necessary that everybody have all of these.

8:29Now the quantities or the ratios are going to be different depending on the person, but

8:33they are important.

8:35Progesterone is also important because it helps to regulate estrogen.

8:40So progesterone is really the moderator.

8:43It helps with regulation of estrogen, but it also helps and is necessary for things like

8:49pregnancy and fertilization.

8:53When those are not present in the appropriate levels, then pregnancy, implantation,

8:59fertilization, those things are the subsequent things cannot happen.

9:03That's important for us to understand, particularly as we get into the next portion of the

9:08class, which is more about fertility.

9:10So it's helpful for us to know some of these just basic tenants of neurochemicals,

9:16neurotransmitters, because they all play such a pivotal role, not only in fertility, but

9:23they also play a very pivotal role in mental health and libido.

9:27So dopamine, as we discussed in the beginning, is something that increases lust or that

9:35seeking motivation type of behavior, but it also naturally increases testosterone.

9:42So it has that cascading effect in our brain.

9:46It helps us with attention, not just motivation, pleasure, and repetitious, pleasurable

9:53behavior.

9:54So that seeking behavior, that love, lusty addiction.

9:58So these are also.

10:00higher in the very beginning of a relationship than maybe towards the middle or the end of

10:05a relationship as comfort, safety, and stability increase. Oxytocin is also really important with

10:14breastfeeding, and it's not only to ensure that we care for our young, but it also facilitates

10:20bonding, trust, and that is, in essence, how we would explain love. So one of the other important

10:29things that this does is it helps to reduce cortisol. It helps to reduce our internal

10:36biological stress response the higher that it is. This can also help us understand a little bit

10:44later in the course when we talk about relationships, why relationships are a

10:48protective factor for our mental health, our physical health, and overall well-being.

10:52Oxytocin increases during things like breastfeeding, but it also increases

10:58drastically during sexual activity, particularly for women, but this is important also for the

11:04heterosexual men in the room or men who have daughters. It is really important for that trust

11:14and interaction. So if somebody's not feeling emotionally safe, then chances are oxytocin

11:23is not going to be released in the same amount. If somebody is realizing that, let's say,

11:32they are engaging in activity that they feel more connected to that person, this is why,

11:40even if there wasn't a connection there before.

11:44The next neurochemical we're going to talk about is vasopressin, which mimics oxytocin. We're not

11:51going to go through all of why that's important, but it's for the same types of reasons that we

11:55just discussed. Adrenaline or norepinephrine is also important because it helps with moderation

12:03of the stress response, it promotes excitement, and it increases desire and retention

12:15in small amounts, but in larger quantities, it can actually suppress libido or decreases it over

12:22time. So it's kind of like when you're studying. What we know about retention or what we know about

12:30small amounts of stress when studying is that it can actually help you remember the content for the

12:35test. But if you are incredibly stressed out and it goes past your window of tolerance,

12:41it actually will work in the reverse or aversively, and you will remember less content.

12:49So it kind of starts to shut the system down. The same thing happens with adrenaline or

12:54norepinephrine when we're talking about sex and libido. A little bit exciting, a lot of it

12:59not exciting because our body can't function under that high amount of intensity or stress

13:04for a prolonged period of time. Serotonin helps regulate food, mood, sleep, and emotion. So if

13:17you think about serotonin, it's our regulator. Most of our serotonin is produced in our gut.

13:22That's why when you hear your name called and maybe in high school over the loudspeaker and

13:28your stomach drops, that's serotonin. That's why we feel a lot in our belly or in our gut. It's

13:34also why a lot of GI symptoms might happen as a result of some of those. So it leads to depression

13:43in too low of levels. You may have heard of antidepressants like SSRIs and things like that.

13:48That affects serotonin directly. But too much serotonin can also decrease desire. So this is

13:55what we're looking for. That perfect window of tolerance for each person is unique. And it just

14:01so happens that we really need to figure those things out. But it also helps us to understand

14:07why medication management can be so difficult for people because everybody's a little different and

14:13there's no way with 100% accuracy to measure somebody's dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine,

14:20all of these levels in order to come up with the perfect medication the first time.

14:26So the next thing we're going to move into is one that is not as helpful and that would be cortisol.

14:33So our stress hormone, the stress response. Cortisol helps to control fatigue or contributes

14:42to fatigue and what we would refer to as stress. But it also helps regulate our sleep cycle and

14:50wake. It helps regulate inflammation or in too high of levels it actually promotes inflammation

14:55in the body. And it can also increase blood pressure and blood sugar as well. So the reason

15:04why those things are important is because if your body is inflamed or you're chronically stressed,

15:11chances are you are not going to have the kind of libido or sexual satisfaction that you want

15:16with your partner because your body is inflamed. It's physically exhausted and what it actually

15:23needs is recovery. And that's where we talk about in some of this course a little bit later on,

15:29what are some of the things that we can do to promote safety and reduce stress, not just for

15:34ourselves, but maybe for our partner, our future partner or partners in order to really help

15:40facilitate bonding. Because the happiest folks are the people with a satisfying sex life,

15:47but they're also the ones who can moderate stress and who can emotionally regulate. So it's

15:53important that we know these things because sometimes our biology may also work against us.

16:00So if we just have chronically really low serotonin levels, we actually might need medication in order

16:07to help boost that enough that we can feel like we can go about our day-to-day life and it's a

16:13little bit easier to manage. Now, not everybody needs that. So part of the goal in just talking

16:20briefly about some of these neurochemicals is so that you understand that it is a little bit of a

16:27challenge for folks who are prescribers, but it is also something that is important for you to

16:32understand for yourself, for your partners and warning signs. If you do have children of

16:39what to look out for, you know, are they not sleeping? Are you waking up pretty frequently?

16:46Are you feeling like you're sleeping too much? All of these are signs and symptoms and things

16:50that you can do to advocate for yourself, but also maybe things you want to bring up in a

16:55conversation with your partner. If you do have conversations around mental health and what that

17:00looks like.