Skin exposure to UVB light induces a skin-brain-gonad axis and sexual behavior

Well, this is oddly personal for hackernews but what the heck. This is pretty interesting to me. I’ve been living outdoors for the last 12 months, and I’ve noticed some significant changes in libido. It’s been on my mind quite a bit (not only for the obvious reasons but also wondering why this is happening to me). There’s a lot of factors of course, going from a mostly sedentary indoor life to a mostly actively outdoor life but this is fascinating. My SO is much more careful than I am with UV exposure and hasn’t seen the same change but again, too many factors to control for in this sort of anecdotal experience.

Bremelanotide, a medication used to treat low sexual desire in women, has skin hyperpigmentation as a side effect. Could there be a connection?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bremelanotide" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bremelanotide</a>

&quot;The questionnaire we used measured romantic passion, rather than physiological&#x2F;sexual passion, due to institutional review board (IRB) ethical concerns regarding sensitive sexually oriented questions.&quot;<p>Curious about this. I understand ethical boards for psychological blind studies and such, but for questionaires?

Could be a signaling behavior to encourage spring births. Does UVB peak in the middle of the summer? 9 months later is probably the best time to birth a child for that child&#x27;s success.

One of the referenced papers [0] concerning addiction to UV light (in rodents) is fascinating as well..!<p>“UV light is an established carcinogen, yet evidence suggests that UV-seeking behavior has addictive features”<p>“Opioid blockade also elicits withdrawal signs after chronic UV exposure”<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;24949966&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;24949966&#x2F;</a>

Implying that a primary causal factor for globally-declining birth rates could be... increased adoption of sunscreen, leading to decreases in libido?<p>(I&#x27;m only half-joking; the countries that are most obsessed with keeping skin white — and so are likely the highest sunscreen users — are also the countries with the lowest birth rates.)

Question: how does sunscreen affect these outcome ? I have been in a UV-high indexed area for over 2hrs a day under sun and wondered if applying sunscreen everyday as I have to exposed parts such as arms and legs have negative consequences since all of them have benzene. Now this seems to be another reason for not doing so?

This isn&#x27;t big news at all.<p>Melanocyte-stimulating hormones have been known to stimulate sexual behavior since forever. Melanocortin receptors directly modulate sexual behavior.<p>Melanocyte-stimulating hormone production is boosted by from inflammatory effects of UV damage. This has been known forever, too.

Interesting. A possible mechanism for the legendary passion of people from &quot;hot blooded&quot; countries?

The melanotan peptide&#x27;s effect on melatonin production and libido is super interesting considering this finding

Or maybe tan people just look more attractive and get more attention

I could tell Aussie girls were different.

Does that mean a bulb like one of these would be useful for those of us stuck in foggy&#x2F;cloudy climes (like San Francisco): <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;s?k=uvb+reptile+light" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;s?k=uvb+reptile+light</a>

Would it make sense for a curious hacker to try out a narrowband UV-B lamp?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.proflamps.com&#x2F;datasheets&#x2F;Philips%20Phototherapy-brochure-Global-final.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.proflamps.com&#x2F;datasheets&#x2F;Philips%20Phototherapy-...</a>

Time to invest in that maker of UVB bedroom lightbulbs

Yet another piece of knowledge everyone should already be aware of, but apparently isn&#x27;t.

I’ve always joked that in summer I felt more “horny”. Guess I could’ve been into something.

Certainly does corelate and will attest one&#x27;s libido does increase in the Spring.

Seems this was only done on mice. Wouldn’t it be easy to evaluate (statistically) on males. Basically measure testosterone levels of out door laborers and indoor laborers.<p>Then as a follow up have the indoor laborers go outside for 1 hr mid-day or something for 12 weeks and measure the effect.

Afternoon delight?...

Not trying to be racist, but does this mean darker skinned people (caused by sun burn) are sexually more active?

Aaaand... skin cancer.

(2021)