HOT AND BOTHERED

All week Jake had been trying to screw up the courage to ask Zoe out. They'd been hanging out in the same group for most of the year but never went out alone. Now he was trying to find out from her friends whether she liked him "like that," or not. Hanging out with her in the group was no longer enough. He felt as if he would burst if he couldn't be alone with her.

Girls don't fully appreciate the bravery it takes for a guy to risk rejection by asking them out. But teen girls soon notice the new power their budding figures have over boys' brains. Boys usually feel the first stirrings of sexual attraction when they're just eleven or twelve years old and begin to have fleeting sexual fantasies. But this is years before they're ready to pair off, and it's the age when boys begin frequent masturbation. Studies show that from puberty until men's midtwenties, they may need to ejaculate one to three times a day. Girls this age reportedly masturbate an average of less than one time per day. Scientists believe that this frequent sexual stimulation is biologically required to keep young men primed, fertile, and ready to have "real sex" at the first opportunity.

Jake's sexual-interest circuits had been flipped on years ago, and his brain's visual cortex had become naturally but indelibly fixated on breasts and buttocks. He obsessively collected every detail about sex that he could find, and when he was with Zoe, he was so mesmerized by her breasts that he often missed what she was saying. He also found himself losing the fight to resist taking a peek at the forbidden online porn sites. He was compelled to learn everything he could so he'd know what to do when the time finally came to "do it." Although Jake didn't consciously know it, his mating brain was now in charge.
During the teen years, a boy's brain circuits undergo major changes. Some brain areas grow wildly, pulsing with constant activity, while other areas are cut back or redirected. It's as if a new operating system is being installed on his computer. Some programs are being upgraded and some are being deleted. The transition can be rocky at times, but once the new system has taken over, he can begin to use the full force of his male brain circuits. And where will he try out these new powers? Wherever there are attractive, desirable girls.