The Spankolateral Tract (Why It Hurts So Good)

It's no secret that I love coloring. It might be less well known that I LOVE coloring pictures of the brain, and it's the best when I can color neuroanatomy in conjunction with my love of spanking!

To the right you will see a drawing that I made for Malignus on his 30th birthday. We both share a passion for neuroscience! If you observe closely, you'll see that it is anatomically and biochemically correct. Well, except perhaps for the big red arrow... but that's where the hypothesis comes in! The overall theme of the drawing is "he spanks me, it hurts, I feel loved, and we grow closer."

I'll break it down. Lets start in the
lower right hand corner (cause who doesn't love starting in the corner?), where you'll note a cane and a hairbrush. These implements are clearly intended for spanking, which serves as the noxious stimuli responsible for activating the pain and temperature receptors in the skin that covers my bottom. After enough receptors are recruited, the primary neuron is depolarized and conducts an impulse that travels through the lateral spinothalamic tract in my spinal cord and up through my brainstem until it synapses with another neuron that lives in my thalamus. From there a third neuron sends the impulse up to my somatosensory cortex, allowing me to "experience" this pain.

Usually, the body responds to pain in a fight-or-flight manner, but this isn't the case when I'm being spanked. I'm a total wuss when it comes to hurting myself, yet I can take a significant spanking without shedding a tear. Because I'm special, stimulating this pathway with a spanking also activates multiple other routes that make me feel happy and floaty and account for the subjective impression of subspace. Many spankos are familiar with the role of endorphins in this process. In the days following a particularly moving scene, Malignus and I struck up a conversation regarding subspace and topspace, and why we both felt so happy and loved for days after we played. Endorphins only explained subspace, but what about topspace and the feelings of happiness that lingered for so long? Perhaps another hormone could potentially be involved. He hypothesized that the molecule oxytocin (pictured above) likely plays a role in creating the bond between a couple that often occurs during and after a spanking. This made sense to me and is a subject I'd like to explore further.

After nerding out for the next several hours, I learned some pretty neat stuff about oxytocin. Its most well known role is in establishing a bond between a mother and newborn infant. During labor, oxytocin is released by the posterior pituitary during the second and third stages of labor and assists with uterine contractions. It is also released following stimulation of the nipples during breast feeding. When a woman is lactating, it causes the milk to be "let down" and available for the baby. It also aids in maternal bonding with the infant and is responsible for much of the "innate love" a mother feels for her child.

Further investigation, however, has led to the discovery that oxytocin plays a role in many other social interactions. It encourages empathy within groups. It evokes feelings of calm, contentment, and security in association with another person. It reduces fear and increases feelings of trust. In addition to its mood-modulating effects, it is also thought to inhibit inflammation by decreasing certain cytokines and thus improving wound healing! Wound healing! Like from spankings! Yessss! :D

Less pertinent than the clinical trials, but still important to me is my own subjective experience. After a really intense scene or one that's just intimate and makes me feel cared for, I honestly do feel closer to him. I feel like we've connected and shared a moment that was good for us both. When I'm curled up in his lap and soaking up the goodness of aftercare, I'm still basking in the flood of endorphins. But I've noticed that there is a lingering sense of contentment that gets me through the next few days, long after the endorphins are out of my system. I feel loved and taken care of. I feel content and safe and secure with myself as his submissive. I know that what I have is good and I'm not afraid of losing it. I feel like we've bonded, and we have.
 
Based on the available evidence, it seems that oxytocin could play a role in establishing the closeness we spankos feel when we're around one another and in reinforcing the bond between partners. It needs further investigation, but I believe it is a hypothesis worth investigating.

<3