Researchers have been studying neurochemical events that take place at and following climax. Most of this work has to be done on animals because the techniques are invasive.
Subconscious changes after climax may have major, as yet largely ignored, implications for our perceptions, mood and choices. For example, research reveals that after a rat satiates himself sexually (which is how rats normally mate, and requires an average of 2.5 hours and up to 7 ejaculations), he exhibits an initial cycle of measurable effects.
This natural cycle, which is apparently the first part of an even longer cycle, lasts 96 hours. During this time the rat’s sexual motivation (libido) is nil-to-sluggish, and he is hyper-reactive to a variety of drugs. After these four days, he’s able to copulate more than once, but it will take him 15 days to return to maximum studliness. According to the scientists:
The long lasting character of both [sluggish libido and hypersensitivity] can only be explained by the occurrence of brain plastic changes that, interestingly, disappear gradually in time.
Humans may not be very different from rats with respect to mechanisms like these. After all, the reason scientists study rats is to try to understand mammalian behavior generally. This page lists some papers describing post-climax effects. See child-pages for post-climax effects emphasizing particular neurochemicals.
Human
Brain areas activated after ejaculation in healthy young human subjects
Exposing orgasm in the brain: a critical eye
Animal
Endocrine, neural and pharmacological aspects of sexual satiety in male rats
c-Fos expression related to sexual satiety in the male rat forebrain
Neural activation following sexual behavior in the male and female rat brain
Pharmacological and physiological aspects of sexual exhaustion in male rats
Post-climax – Dopamine Post-climax – Androgen receptors and serum testosterone Post-climax – Opioids Post-climax – Endocannabinoids Post-climax – Serotonin Post-climax – Prolactin Post-climax – Glutamate Other physiological shifts
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish