Is Masturbating With Your Non-Dominant Hand Good For Your Brain?

Your dominant hand is the one you do everything with: pouring the creamer into your morning coffee, doodling in your notebook, and of course: jerking off. You might have never really thought about it much, but it’s true: most people masturbate with their dominant hand, and considering that they call it a dominant hand, it’s probably not that surprising to learn that according to a 2022 study almost everyone masturbates with theirs. “Most people have a preferred hand for motor activities, either because that hand feels more natural, has more skill, or a combination of these,” psychologist Paul Rodway, one of the authors of this very studies tells Cosmopolitan. “People typically use their dominant hand because it is easier (more skilled) and feels more natural to use that hand.”But, apparently if you push past the awkward feeling and masturbate with your non-dominant hand more often, science implies, you might actually be giving your brain a new challenge. To be clear, there are no direct studies that link specifically masturbation with a non-dominant hand to positive brain effects—but stay with me for a second. Because, in 2017, there was a study where right-handed participants practiced a sequence with their left (or non-dominant) hand for just 10 minutes a day, four days a week. Researchers observed improvements in their performance but they also saw that their brain activity changed and their motor cortex became more responsive and thicker. In simpler terms, the brain was adapting the more they practiced with their non-dominant hand.Another study conducted in 2019 compared dominant- and non-dominant hand training. Using MRI scans, researchers found that the participants training with their non-dominant hands basically had to work their brain harder to do so. Now, when your brain picks up a new skill, it creates neuroplasticity.“Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections in response to learning and experience,” neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez says. “Your brain has to work harder to plan and control movements that normally feel effortless. With repeated practice, the brain can become more efficient at performing that unfamiliar task.”When you switch hands, you're taking something that's usually pretty automatic and turning it into a tiny motor-learning exercise. You're having to pay more attention to the movement, figure out how much pressure to use, and coordinate your hand in a way that isn't as familiar.And developing this neuroplasticity has a lot of benefits. Dr. Hafeez explains that as a result of neuroplasticity, your memory can improve as the brain strengthens pathways involved in storing and recalling information. Your ability to problem solve improves as well, since your brain is training to learn new ways to approach challenges. Even your coordination and motor skills can get better as new movements are practiced and repeated.There aren't any direct studies linking masturbating with your non-dominant hand and brain improvements—yet. But even Rodway agreed that this is a correlation worth studying. We know that learning new physical skills does produce measurable changes in the brain—which means there is a plausible case for thinking of your opposite hand as a small opportunity to challenge your brain in a new way.So, at the very least, I encourage you to try switching hands the next time you have a sexy, solo session. Best case scenario? You’re challenging your brain and bettering it in a way that just hasn’t been studied yet. And if not, hey, at least you can say you know how to make yourself orgasm using both hands.