“Masturbation and pornography are potently tapping into the dopamine system and can undermine the very processes of—which I consider healthy processes—of finding a mate, you know, dating, communication, eventually, if it’s appropriate, sexual interaction, etc,” he says.
“It also sounds like it’s undermining pair bonding,” Dr. Peterson responds. “Okay, so here’s a question: if you’re seeking sexual release through pornography and you go through the whole cycle and you get a prolactin release, do you bond with yourself?”
“The biology explains it as what’s left there is a kind of an open loop, a kind of an emptiness, right? Because bonding with the self is a complicated notion,” Dr. Huberman explains. “There’s a healthy version of that, of course—loving oneself and self referencing. But in the absence of a real partner there, of a real sexual partner, there’s an open loop of neurochemicals, including oxytocin and prolactin. The dopamine goes up during pursuit—anticipation—then peaks and then crashes below baseline after orgasm and ejaculation. So this kind of low that people fear is putting them into an amotivated state.”
[That sounds like an addiction issue, does it not? — Ed]
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