Not in the mood: Chinese study reveals why male orgasm causes mice to lose sex drive for days

Name: Lab-grown brain cells play Pong video game after learning with real-time performance feedback
Uploaded: 2023-02-12T08:00:10.000Z
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Description: Lab-grown brain cells play Pong video game after learning with real-time performance feedback

Scientists say ejaculation triggers certain neurons in rodents, making them lose interest in mating, but suppressing this process brings back libido

Their experiments could help researchers understand the brain science behind other changes in social behaviour and emotions

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Scientists altered the brain cells of male mice so they would feel frisky every day. Photo: Shutterstock

Ling Xinin Beijing

Published: 4:00pm, 12 Feb 2023Updated: 4:10pm, 12 Feb 2023

A new study explains why male orgasm causes mice of both sexes to lose interest in mating for days, potentially shedding light on the brain science behind other puzzling animal behaviours, according to researchers in China.

The study, published in Science on Thursday, is the first to detail how sex leads to changes in the brain that can have long-lasting effects on animal behaviour, according to the team from the Chinese Institute for Brain Research in Beijing.

They found that when male mice ejaculated, it triggered nerve cells in a region of the forebrain known as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), causing both male and female mice to reach sexual satiety and lose interest in mating for days or even weeks.

However, when given medication to suppress this brain activity, the rodents’ sex drive returned quickly. Male mice whose brain cells were permanently altered for the study continued to mate and ejaculate every day.

According to the researchers, the findings could be used to understand persistent changes in other social behaviours such as parenting and aggression.

Neuroscientist Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku of the University of California San Diego in the US said many animal behaviours were motivated by internal stimuli such as hunger, thirst and sexual urges, and the underlying neural mechanisms of these were not well understood.

For example, after mating, many species temporarily avoided sex to save energy and increase the chances of fertilisation, but little was known about the changes in the brain that caused this behaviour.

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Lab-grown brain cells play Pong video game after learning with real-time performance feedback