Looking to eliminate stress and relax? Study shows that sadomasochism can be as relaxing as meditating. So, are you going to face it?
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It seems surreal to see something commonly associated with pain seen in this way, but research conducted by a scientist linked to Northern Illinois University in the United States suggests that sadomasochism (sex involving factors such as dominance and submission and some level of pain) leaves the brain in the same state of "altered consciousness" as a meditation session or a running exercise.
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The study, which concluded that benefits are experienced by both those experiencing and experiencing pain, involved 14 participants and was presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting in Austin, Texas. Of these, all had a versatile character in practice, that is: they were both dominant and submissive in their S&M sessions (as the practice is called by its followers). In the experiment, they had their role determined by rolling dice.
Thus, after each sadomasochistic experience, these people performed a cognitive test known as Stroop (the one in which the word yellow appears written in blue, for example, and you must say the color).
Performance on the test showed that participants had a decline in activity in an area of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Lightness This organ niche is linked to the control of memory and other functions essential to thought.
And it is this same niche that "relaxes" and brings well-being to an individual after a running or meditation session, explains, in publishing the study, James Ambler. Less activity in this cortex can lead to a feeling of lightness, peace and focus on the moment", as if time were "frozen", say the researchers.
In addition to this benefit, the research also identified lower levels of anxiety among those who practice the practice. For experts who had access to the study, this may be due to a supposed increase in the level of blood sent to the brain as a result of the practice of S&M.
