Secrets of the Male Brain - Why Men Cheat

The male brain is more complex than what you might think. It hides some interesting secrets. Differences in the way that male and female brains are built shed light on men's desire for sex and why men cheat.

Sex and Love

Neuropsychiatrist Dr. Louann Brizendine explains in her controversial book, The Male Brain, that biologically speaking, the male brain is looking for sex. In fact, the area for sexual pursuit happens to be 2.5 times larger in the male brain than in the female brain.

That doesn't mean that men are not looking for love and partnership as well. Sex and love are linked. The way it works is that the reward system in the brain gets triggered during sex and climax, making it want to do it again and again. It also makes one want to seek out the person you are having the rewarding experience with again and again. This is how the sex and love circuits get bound together and men recognize a specific person as 'the one.'

It has to be understood that men express their love differently than women. Men do not resonate with feelings for as long a period as women. Instead, the male brain quickly switches to another system called the temporal parietal junction system, which allows them to start searching their whole brain for solutions to fix a problem - and putting things right for their partner is how they show their love.

This can lead to a lot of misunderstanding between lovers. Women sometimes just want to talk about their feelings while men are wired to launch into trying to find solutions for the problem.

Genes and Infidelity

So why do men cheat? Fascinating is that one gene in particular, the vasopressin receptor gene, may play a role in male infidelity.

The monogamous prairie vole is known to bond with one mate for life, even if he is presented with other, fertile females. His promiscuous cousin, the montane vole, on the other hand, does not stick around after mating at all.

Scientists found that the montane vole had a short type of the vasopressin receptor gene, and the monogamous one had a long version of it. When they injected the long gene from the monogamous one into the brain of the promiscuous one, that one became monogamous.

In terms of why men cheat, about 17 different lengths of the vasopressin receptor gene have been identified in males so far. Several research studies show that those men who have the longer type are more likely to be happily married without any infidelity. Men with the shorter genes are often bachelors.

This does not excuse infidelity, but it does provide a deeper insight into the secrets of the male brain and why men cheat.


Want to learn more about infidelity and why men cheat?

Relationship therapist and author Dr. Mia Rose redefines what it means to have better sex. Dr. Mia has taught thousands of couples to have fulfilling relationships and pleasurable sex.

Secrets of the Male Brain - Why Men Cheat 2012-08-18T14:23:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: fafas