Neurologie des Spankings

Diesen Artikel habe ich in einem Forum bei Lacci & Sculacci gefunden. Leider ist er in Englisch verfasst. Aber die Schlussfolgerungen sind ganz gut verständlich.

Does a spanking produce pain or just sensation?
Some people say that they are into spanking, but not into pain. Because, you know, if they were into pain that would mean that they are (gasp) masochists! So they say that they like gentle spankings that are just “sensation”, not pain.

What does neuroscience have to say about that? Pain is not just a strong tactile sensation. Believe or not, this was strongly debated for some time among pain scientists. Nowadays, it is clear that pain and tactile sensations are carried by different neurons, from the body all the way into the brain.

There are three types of nerves that receive signals from the skin: C fibers, A-delta fibers and A-beta fibers. They differ on their diameter and whether they have myelin or not. Myelin is a coat of fatty tissue produced by glial cells which envelops the nerves, leaving gaps called nodes of Ranvier. Two types of nerves have myelin and are called A-beta and A-delta fibers, while the third type, called C-fibers, does not have myelin. C-fibers are also thinner. Most C-fibers transmit pain, but some transmit heat, cold and itch. A-beta fibers transmit only tactile sensation. Some A-delta fibers transmit pain and others tactile signals. Therefore, pain and tactile sensations are entirely different things.
Touching, caressing and rubbing stimulates A-beta fibers. The impact involved in a spanking stimulates C fibers and A-delta fibers. Of course, since impact involves touching, it also activates A-beta fibers. However, even the gentlest spanking activates pain fibers and, therefore, should be considered pain. What happens is that low intensity pain is not unpleasant and, in fact, can be quite pleasurable.
So, yes, spanking causes pain. Stingy versus thuddy pain.

I used to think that a spanking is pleasant because it produces stingy pain. By that I mean a pain that is felt in the skin and is sharp and sparkly. It also leaves an after-sensation of warmth. However, later I found spankees who prefer thuddy pain. By that I mean a dull, achy sensation that is felt deeper than the skin, in the muscle, and does not leave a warmth afterward.
Different types of C and A-delta fibers produce stingy and thuddy pain. Stingy pain is actually two sensations: an immediate, sharp one carried by A-delta fibers and a later one that is more dull and hot, which is carried by the C fibers. But both of them are located in the skin. Thuddy pain is carried by C fibers in the muscle.
A quick slap on the butt produces stingy pain. A punch or a kick in the butt produces thuddy pain. Stingy pain requires speed. Thuddy pain requires mass. Spanking is really about stingy pain. People who prefer a thuddy sensation would do better being caned or paddled. To improve the quality of the sting, the spanker should:
▪ aim for the skin instead of sending the impact deep into the glutes;
▪ move the hand quickly and not put a lot of weight into it;
▪ curve the hand to the shape of the buttock, so the entire palm contacts the skin at the same time;
▪ relax the wrist and the hand, so the hand goes rubbery instead of rigid like a paddle.
The latter will also prevent the spanker from damaging his wrist and knuckles from the repetitive impact. This type of injury will not be felt until the next day because it involves deep-tissue inflammation. It does happen!
Why does a spanking feel hot?
Because many C fibers have a peculiar protein called TRPV1, which is a sensor for heat. TRPV1 was discovered as the receptor for capsaicin, the chemical found in spicy peppers that makes them hot. It sits on the membrane of neurons and forms a channel that when activated lets sodium and calcium ions into the cell. This triggers the firing of action potential in the C fibers, which send a pain signal to the spinal cord and from there to the brain. TRPV1 channels are opened mainly by high temperatures. How can that happen? Does the butt have connections to the pleasure centers of the brain?

The neuroscience of pain gets quite complicated once we move from the sensory nerves into the spinal cord and the brain. In the spinal cord, C fibers make synapses with neurons that have the receptor for substance P, the neurokinin 1 receptor. These neurons send axons up the spinal cord to two areas of the brain, the parabrachial nucleus and the thalamus.
The parabrachial nucleus is connected to the amygdala, the part of the brain that produces fear, stress and excitement. In turn, the amygdala connects to the paraventricular gray, which is the origin of neuronal pathways that release endorphins. It also connects to the locus coeruleus, the origin of noradrenergic pathways. So, in an environment in which we feel safe and fear is kept in check, this parabrachial - amygdala pathway could lead to the endorphin and noradrenaline highs.
At the thalamus, the pain pathway branches to three sites in the cortex. The first is the somatosensory cortex, which tells us in what part of the body pain is happening (in the butt, you dummy!). The second is the insula, which is an area in which pain and pleasure meet each other. It is involved in orgasms, which could explain why spanking can produce them. But it also has a role in many other emotions. The third area is the cingulate cortex, an area that has an important role in motivation.

Too much? Well, who said that neuroscience was easy? Here are a few take-home messages…

1 Spanking may take some getting used to. Start gently and do it regularly to build skin resistance and carve the neuronal pathways that will lead to increasing pleasure.
2 Spanking is an art that needs to be learned. Hitting the butt willy-nilly will not do it. Both the spanker and the spankee need to work at it.
3 It isn’t weird that spanking is pleasurable. The machinery to make it happens is all there, in the brain.
4 For a spanking to be enjoyable, we need an environment that makes us feel safe. It is important to have a good emotional connection with the spanker, a clear understanding about what is going to happen, and a safeword to stop the spanking if things go wrong.
5 Orgasming from spanking may happen, but don’t seek it out. Spanking is an excellent foreplay or just an erotic activity to insert into your love life.
Copyright 2021 Hermes Solenzol 

In der Tat, nimand kann behaupten, dass Neuroscience einfach ist. Aber sie bietet schlüssige wissenschaftliche Antworten auf Fragen nach dem "wie und warum" Selbst wenn man das verstanden hat, sind die Lektionen immer noch die gleichen, wie wir sie in den 6 Punkten oben finden und schon kannten!