YOU KNOW THAT moment after you’ve had an orgasm, when a lightbulb seems to go off in your head? It’s not generally the second after you’ve come—it’s usually a minute or two later, once you’ve had time to catch your breath and you’re enjoying cuddling in the afterglow with your partner.
Perhaps there’s been a problem at work you haven’t been able to solve, and bam, the solution just came to you (no pun intended). Or you experienced a revelation that you really need to start working out more and eating healthier, and in that moment, you fully commit yourself to making that lifestyle change. Or maybe you’ve just been under a lot of pressure or feeling overwhelmed, and after getting laid you finally feel able to be proactive, make plans, and face some of the challenges in your life.
That, my friend, is post-nut clarity.
The term post-nut clarity, or “PNC,” to was coined by Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn, hosts of the hugely popular Call Her Daddy podcast. But while a great many men can anecdotally attest to experiencing that “aha” moment after sex (or even after masturbating), is it actually a real thing? And more importantly, is there any science behind it?
Here’s everything you need to know about the PNC phenomenon.
Not every man experiences post-nut clarity.
You may be reading this and thinking to yourself, What? After sex, I just want to roll over and go to bed. And if that’s the case, you’re not alone.
“There are likely different degrees to this clarity, as some men may feel relaxed and fall asleep after ejaculating, while others may feel inspired and ready to work on other tasks,” explains Jamin Brahmbhatt, M.D., a urologist at Orlando Health.
“Every guy is different, so every post-orgasm ‘clarity’ can also be different,” he says. “And every orgasm will likely not lead to clarity.”
Post-nut clarity is potentially caused by the release of hormones and neurotransmitters.
“There’s no actual research on post-nut clarity,” explains Michael Ingber, MD, a urologist and urogynecologist at Garden State Urology. “We do know that orgasm activates dozens of regions in the brain, and is so complex that we still don’t understand so much of it.” But for those guys who do experience it, it likely has to do with the release of hormones and neurotransmitters that happens before, during, and after sex.
Before we have sex, and during foreplay, our brain’s emotion centers are stimulated. “MRI studies have shown increased activity in the limbic system (emotion center) in your brain before sex,” says Brahmbhatt. “This area of your brain has areas responsible for memory, fear, aggression, and other emotions,” which partly explains why some of us can act quite emotionally and even irrationally during the pursuit of sex (and up until orgasm).
Once we orgasm, our brain releases a slew of endorphins and neurotransmitters, including dopamine—the “feel-good” neurotransmitter. Dopamine is the same thing that goes up when we eat our favorite foods, gamble, get a compliment, listen to our favorite song…you get the idea.
“This is why sex is something you may seek often or even become addicted to,” Brahmbhatt adds. “Then after sex, our dopamine levels drop, and there’s a rise in prolactin… This change in hormones seems to be the reason for the length of the refractory period, but it also can potentially account for ‘post nut clarity.’”
You might actually make decisions better post-orgasm.
In a video on her YouTube channel, urologist and sex educator Dr. Rena Malik explained that the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, does not get as much blood during sex—but once that blood flows back in after orgasm, you might suddenly be full of bright ideas.
“You’re not really thinking as clearly as you would during ejaculation,” she says. “After orgasm, this reactivates, and then goes away after post-ejaculation, and this might explain post-nut clarity, because finally that area of the brain is getting blood-flow.”
So is post-nut clarity legit?
Until there’s official scientific research on the topic, the answer is…it’s unclear! Theoretically, it could be that up until the point of orgasm, our brain is more focused on sex, and we’re thinking with our limbic system (emotion center). Once sex happens, and we’ve successfully achieved that dopamine and endorphin rush we so desperately craved, we’re able to start thinking more about the other non-sex related things that have been on our mind with post-nut clarity.
Whatever the reason may be, if you’re having epiphanies after having sex, it’s just another great reason to keep doing it.
