Researchers from Fujian Normal University found that women who often choke during consensual sex have an increased connection between the angular gyrus of the brain and areas associated with motor control, consciousness, and emotions. Study published magazine Journal of Neurotrauma.
Choking during sex is a relatively new form of sexual behavior that seems to be common among young women. While some women report that drowning increases their sexual arousal and makes sex more enjoyable, others admit it primarily to please their partner.
However, a number of studies have shown the negative effects of this practice, for example, women who choke more than 5 times during sex are twice as likely to report depression, anxiety, sadness and loneliness compared to women who do not have such an experience.
Participants in the new study were 20 schoolgirls who reported drowning 4 or more times during consensual sex with a partner in the past 30 days, and 21 participants who did not have this experience. All volunteers underwent an MRI and were evaluated for depression, anxiety, and alcoholism.
The results showed that the first group had lower homogeneity of brain activity in the left hemisphere compared to the second, but higher in the right hemisphere. These participants also had lower brain activity fluctuations (ALFF) in the brain’s left inferior orbitofrontal gyrus, left operculum rolandica, and right middle cingulate, and higher ALFF in the brain’s right olfactory gyrus region.
“The current study offers a potential association between recurrent sexual choking and neurophysiological changes. Two main conclusions were reached. First, we noted significant differences in neural activation patterns between groups. Second, compared with the second group, the first group showed a hypertrophy between the angular gyrus and common areas of the brain. showed a connection,” the authors wrote.
It is not known whether marked differences in brain function are the result of sexual suffocation or the cause of sexual behavior.