Our sexy brainOur sexy brain
All In The Mind
Even when it gets the go-ahead, research on sex and the brain is still highly stigmatised—yet there is still so much to learn. Sometimes a brain injury or disease causes hypersexuality, or a change of sexual preference; orgasm can cause a brain aneurysm to rupture, and the latter becomes more likely if it’s sex with someone other than your usual partner.
28:52•17 Nov 2019
Our Sexy Brain: How Injury, Illness and Love Shape Desire
Episode Overview
- Sexual behaviour is linked to a broad brain network, including the frontal and temporal lobes and the amygdala.
- Brain injuries and diseases such as epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and tumours can trigger dramatic changes in sex drive and sexual behaviour.
- Hypersexuality or loss of desire can place significant strain on relationships, families and care settings, sometimes leading to legal trouble.
- Orgasm can be associated with seizures and may trigger the rupture of brain aneurysms, especially in stressful sexual situations.
- Sex-related conditions such as pedophilia and high porn use raise complex questions about responsibility, brain changes and how the justice and medical systems should respond.
“"He had sex on the brain, literally."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol may be tangled up with many other questions about the brain, including sex, desire and impulse control. This episode of **All In The Mind** shifts focus to "our sexy brain", offering a frank, science-based look at how brain function can dramatically change sexual behaviour.
Host Lynne Malcolm chats with neuropsychologist Dr Amy Baird from Macquarie University, whose clinical work and book *Sex in the Brain: How your brain controls your sex life* draw on striking case studies. You’ll hear about patients whose brain injuries led to sudden hypersexuality, such as Jack, who after a right frontal lobe injury "had sex on the brain, literally", and Tessa, who felt an overwhelming urge to sleep with every man she met.
The conversation tracks how different regions of the brain are involved in sex, including the frontal lobes, temporal lobes and the amygdala, and how damage or disease in these areas can flip someone from low desire to intrusive urges or even altered sexual preference. Conditions like epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, brain tumours and strokes all appear in the stories, raising difficult questions for families, carers and the legal system.
There’s also discussion of sexual seizures, orgasms linked with seizures, and cases where orgasm can trigger the rupture of a brain aneurysm, particularly in stressful, extramarital situations. Dr Baird touches on controversial topics like so‑called sex addiction and porn use, and research into pedophilia and how brain differences may separate those who offend from those who do not. Threaded through is a theme of stigma: sex research is still hard to fund and approve ethically, leaving many questions unanswered.
If you’re curious about how brain health might shape desire, boundaries and responsibility, this episode might make you look at both sex and behaviour change in a very different light. How might this knowledge shift the way you view your own impulses and those of people around you?
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