A group of 21 healthy men recently volunteered to masturbate while watching pornographic videos and they were doing it for free, in the name of science. Their contributions to science are thought to have strengthened theories involving evolutionary biology and human evolutionary psychology but it all may prove to be highly beneficial to some couples seeking treatment for infertility.
More porn equals more sperm
The study, headquartered at The College of Wooster in Ohio, revealed higher sperm quality in semen when men watch porn. Sperm quality is measured as the volume of semen and the number of actively mobile sperm in it.
Enhanced sperm quality may be the result of thinking about an unfamiliar woman having sex. In previous studies on mammals other than humans, sperm quality and quantity were observed to diminish the more times a male mated with the same female. When a new female was introduced, their mating produced sperm of higher quality that took less time to ejaculate.
How the study was conducted
The Wooster researchers enlisted 21 heterosexual male volunteers to watch sexually explicit videos every other day for 15 days. They were required to produce semen samples for laboratory analysis at every video session.
The research team chose similar scenes from different episodes of the “Intimate Passions” video series for the experiment. For the first six sessions, each man watched sexual escapades between an actor and the same actress. During the final (seventh) scientific session, the same actor was featured but the actress was different.
Each man was asked to avoid alcohol and sexual activity of their own for 48 hours before each session.
The findings in the Wooster study mimicked the findings of the mammal studies. Semen quality diminished over the course of the study but only until the last video was viewed. The ejaculate produced during the seventh session took less time to produce and was of significantly higher volume and quality.
From an evolutionary perspective, these attributes might lead to a greater number of offspring for the male. The added excitement of mating with a new or unfamiliar female might ensure the male spreads his seed to bloodlines healthy enough to reproduce effectively.
What the study means for infertility
When human couples seek infertility treatment, the man is usually asked to produce a semen sample for assessment. Men often choose to do so while viewing pornography.
The Wooster research team speculates that watching porn may lead to enhanced sperm output and quality, thereby masking male-related causes of infertility. What he produces in the clinic, may be of higher quality than what he produces at home in the bedroom.
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Sources:
- Joseph, Paul N., Rakes K. Sharma, Ashok Agarwal, and Laura K. Sirot. "Men Ejaculate Larger Volumes of Semen, More Motile Sperm, and More Quickly when Exposed to Images of Novel Women." Evolutionary Psychological Science (2015). Springer Link / Springer International Publishing. Web. 19 Aug. 2015.
- Finn, John. "Study by Wooster Scientists Shows Promise for Enhancing Male Fertility." Wooster. The College of Wooster, 18 June 2015. Web. 19 Aug. 2015.
- Freeman, David. "Men Masturbated For Science, And Here's What Came Of It." HuffPost Science. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 7 Aug. 2015. Web. 19 Aug. 2015.