Q like this get a lot of upvotes for some reason Long term effect of masturbation on Estrogen receptors
Spoiler: the paper doesn't mention masturbation in its abstract:
Males of many species present a long-term inhibition of sexual behavior after several ejaculations, known as sexual satiety. It has been shown that androgen receptor density is reduced 24 h after a single ejaculation or mating to satiety, in the medial preoptic area, nucleus accumbens and ventromedial hypothalamus. The aim of this study was to analyze if the density of ERα [Estrogen receptor alpha] was also modified 24 h after a single ejaculation or mating to satiety.
I haven't actually read all of it, but the q doesn't justify why it's asking just about masturbation (with any quote from the paper.) Still it got 7 up-votes and 0 down-votes (before mine), as if it were a well-researched q.
And yeah, I've even read the methods section of the paper now:
All observations were made under dim red light, 2 h after the onset of darkness. Each male was placed alone in a test arena and 5 min later an intact receptive female was introduced, except for controls.
Those rats got some real action, not masturbation.
I have the feeling this site has tipped to the point of too many participants like that (i.e. trolls and their perhaps-not-so-cognizant cheerleaders), from a quick inspection on the main page. (See also my previous rant: Upvoting under-researched questions )