Even a few attempts to choke during sex can cause permanent brain damage, an alarming study shows

It is this increasingly popular sexual act that has raised concerns among doctors across the country.

According to a recent study, a whopping 58 percent of female students suffer from choking attacks (known medically as sexual strangulation) during intimate moments.

But now this bizarre “arousal,” popularized by Gen-Z TV series like HBO’s “Euphoria” and the box office hit “Fifty Shades of Grey,” has been shown to cause worrying brain damage – which may be permanent.

Studies have shown that women who had been strangled four times within the previous 30 days experienced changes in brain structures that impaired their ability to perform working memory tasks.

The research was conducted by Dr. Debbie Herbinick, a sexual and reproductive health researcher who is also one of the scientists leading the study on the dangers of choking.

Other studies she led have shown that choking and other forms of rough sex are not only common among young people, but expected.

A restricted blood supply to the brain can cause it to immediately cease its normal functioning and, due to a lack of oxygen and glucose, suffer necrosis or tissue death after just five minutes.

The risks of sexual intercourse lie in damage to the brain due to lack of oxygen.

Even if this happens for a short time, say 10 seconds, it can cause someone to become unconscious. Minutes without oxygen can cause permanent brain damage.

Neurons, or brain cells, begin to shrink and die. To survive, they resort to their emergency reserves, creating lactic acid in the bloodstream, which after about 20 minutes leads to tissue damage in the heart, kidneys and liver.

The appeal, proponents say, lies in the feeling of euphoria caused by the sudden rush of oxygen when the partner lets go.

Dr Herbernick said: “There is a lot of concern about teenagers and young people doing this because they don’t really have the full knowledge and information about this behaviour yet and perhaps have very little practice or experience in talking about sexuality.”

“Historically, strangulation was taboo for most in the kink and BDSM community and was viewed as a rare or niche behavior that only a small group of people were interested in and that required very careful consent, communication and education.”

A study published in the journal Brain Behavior examined two groups of 41 women each: one group had been strangled in the past 30 days and the other had not. The aim was to find out what effect this practice had on the structure of their brains.

The choking group showed significantly increased cerebral cortex thickness in several brain regions involved in face recognition, image processing, and memory. compared to the group that did not experience choking, suggesting that the structure of their brains had changed, perhaps permanently.

These structural changes could be associated with differences in cognitive functions or sensory processing.

Measures of brain structural complexity were mixed: the choking group showed increased volume in regions involved in touch processing, emotion processing, and recognizing other faces and bodies, but decreased size in areas involved in working memory, higher executive functions, self-perception, and image processing.

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However, the authors of the study qualified this: “It is possible that individuals who are prone to mental illnesses such as depression already have altered cerebral cortex morphology and are therefore more likely to engage in risky behavior.”

Choking during sex is a relatively new phenomenon. It is no longer hidden in niches on the internet on porn sites – which thrive there – but is now a staple of pop culture.

In addition to Euphoria, musicians such as Jack Harlow and comedians such as Ali Wong have also expressed their preference for this practice.

In the first episode of the Max series Euphoria, the character Cassie has sex with a partner who chokes her because he assumes she would like it without asking her first.

Meanwhile, Jack Harlow sings in his song Lovin On Me: “I’m vanilla, baby, I’ll choke you, but I’m not a killer, baby.”

And comedian Ali Wong said, “I’m a bossy person, so you be the boss, OK? Just choke me until I can’t speak anymore. Because when I can speak, I’ll tell you what to do.”

A 2022 study reported that women who were strangled at least once lost consciousness, suggesting at least mild acquired brain injuries, seizures, motor and speech impairments, and paralysis.

Psychological consequences included PTSD, depression, suicidality and dissociation. Cognitive and behavioral symptoms were less frequently reported but included memory loss, increased aggression, compliance and lack of help-seeking.

Dr Herbernick said: “I think parents are usually just very shocked when they hear about these changes in sexual behaviour in teenagers and young adults, college students and so on. Because these were not common behaviours, even though people in their 40s, 50s and 60s are at that age. So it’s really hard for people to believe, to even accept that this could be happening.”

On February 7, British man Sam Pybus applied pressure to his girlfriend Sophie Moss’s neck as they had sex at her home. She had asked him to do it beforehand, so it was technically consensual. Mr Pybus said he was drunk when he strangled the mother of two.

The case is considered the latest in a series of examples in which men accused of femicide have invoked the “rough sex defense.”

The prosecution argues that the person strangled “invited” his or her partner to carry out the act that led to the murder, and that the murder was committed as a result of sexual practices to which the victim consented and possibly even requested.

Mr Pybus was sentenced to just four years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter rather than murder as there was no evidence he intended to kill her or cause her serious harm