Pedro (not his real name) is 30 years old. It hasn’t happened to him for a long time. However, he remembers that when he was at university, a yawn would usually immediately cause an erection. It wasn’t always the case that he yawned. It usually happened when he was tired, especially if he was sitting or lying down. But it wasn’t something exceptional. gaping erection This happened quite often in his life.
Pedro’s case is far from unique. Much research has focused on analyzing the possible causes of these two phenomena. obviously unrelatedseem to be related in some people.
Many of these studies were conducted in rodentsbut it has also been analyzed in primates, including humans. The causes of erections due to yawning are not 100% clear, but it is believed that two hormones are primarily involved: dopamine and testosterone. Let’s see how each of them affects.
This has nothing to do with sexual arousal.
Although an erection is usually the result sexual arousalan erection due to yawning had nothing to do with it. “When it happened, I didn’t have any sexual thoughts or anything like that,” Pedro recalls. “Neither before nor after the erection.”
However, there does appear to be some connection with a hormone associated with sexual arousal: testosterone.
As he explained in his statements Los Angeles Times Psychologist at Temple University Ronald BenningerIt has been observed that non-human primates with higher levels of testosterone tend to yawn more. In fact, males yawn twice as often as females.
This makes sense because testosterone stimulates nitric oxide release in the nerve endings and vascular endothelium of the penis. This relaxation helps the muscles of the corpora cavernosa, which make up the area of the penis responsible for erection, to relax. When the walls relax, they can fill with blood, increasing their volume and becoming rigid. erect penis.
On the other hand, nitric oxide is also known to be associated with yawning. So if testosterone and nitric oxide promote both yawning and erections, it is not surprising that erection due to yawning.
Other common factors for erections and yawning
The causes of yawning have been widely debated by scientists for many years. One of the most common hypotheses is that when we are tired or sleepy, we tend to breathe less intenselyso we take less air into our lungs. For this reason, our brain sometimes makes us breathe very hard, getting enough oxygen to keep our cells healthy.
It’s a hypothesis that makes a lot of sense. However, the paths that led to this remained a mystery for a long time. The process became clear when it was established that apomorphinea drug that stimulates dopamine receptors, causes increased yawning. This has led to the idea that dopaminenormally associated with the brain’s reward systems, may play an important role in the development of yawning.
But the most curious thing is that over time it turned out that apomorphine can also cause an erection. Moreover, subsequent studies have shown that some antidepressants can cause an increase in the number of yawns during the day and, in turn, an increase in sexual arousal. There are some antidepressants that have the exact opposite effect. They reduce libido. However, those that encourage yawning also seem to increase it. sexual desire.
The Role of Morning Erection
In Pedro’s case, he tells us that erections due to yawning were common only when he was tired. in the morning or after meals“I don’t remember, for example, being at a party one night and this happening.”
This may be due to the fact that erections that do not produce any effect are also common upon awakening. nothing to do with sexual arousal. These are the famous morning erections. They are produced to regenerate and revive the tissues of the penis thanks to the oxygen that enters the organ with the blood and causes an erection.
If someone is prone to erections due to yawning, as Pedro was in his student years, then perhaps these two phenomena they returned to each other.
In short, if something like Pedro happens to you, don’t worry, you’re not a weirdo. Simply put, dopamine, testosterone, and nitric oxide are all flowing through your body just fine. That’s the gist of it.
Source: Hiper Textual
