Losing your eyesight? Forgetting stuff? Well a new study shows that older people can boost their brain power by having more sex. Regular intimacy improves the vocabulary and visual awareness of people who are above 50.
Yet being active between the sheets does not influence their attention or memory.
Researchers did not speculate on why re gular sex boosts older people’s brain function, however, research that has already bbeen carried out suggests getting intimate stimulates areas of the brain associated with learning.
Author of the study, Dr Hayley Wright from
Covenrty University said, “People don't like to think that older people have sex, but we need to challenge this conception at a societal level and look at what impact sexual activity can have on those aged 50 and over, beyond the known effects on sexual health and general wellbeing.”
Researchers from the universities of Coventry and Oxford analysed 28 men and 45 women between the ages of 50 and 83 where the participants completed a series of question and answers related to their sexual activity for the last one year and took part in a test that measures brain function in older adults.
This included a 'verbal fluency test', which required the participants to name as many animals as they could in one minute. Their visual awareness was also assessed as they were required to copy a complex design and draw a clock face from memory.
Results revealed that those who have more sex did better in the verbal fluency test. They were also more able to perceive objects and the spaces between them. Yet, regular sex had no impact on attention or memory.
The researchers did not speculate on how regular sex boosts the brain function of older people but earlier research has shown that it stimulated the development of neurones in the brain. Dr Wright said, “We can only speculate whether this is driven by social or physical elements, but an area we would like to research further is the biological mechanisms that may influence this.”
He further added, “Every time we do another piece of research we are getting a little bit closer to understanding why this association exists at all, what the underlying mechanisms are, and whether there is a "cause and effect" relationship between sexual activity and cognitive function in older people.”
