A new study gives even more reason to keep having sex: according to the universities of Coventry and Oxford, more frequent sexual activity is linked to improved brain function in older adults.
Researchers looked at 73 individuals between the ages of 50 and 83, studying their sexual activity over a period of 12 months. To do so, participants filled in a questionnaire on how often they had engaged in sex, whether that was never, monthly, or weekly. They also answered questions about their overall health and lifestyle.
Made up of 28 men and 45 women, the group also took part in a standardized test that focused on attention, memory, fluency, language, and visuospatial ability.
This included verbal fluency tests in which participants had 60 seconds to name as many animals as possible, and then to say as many words beginning with F as they could — tests which reflect higher cognitive abilities.
Overall, researchers found that those who had more regular sex scored higher on tests that measured their verbal fluency, as well their ability to perceive objects and the spaces between them. This being said, the results did not suggest that sex was linked to attention, memory, or language.
Researchers note that further research could investigate how biological elements, such as dopamine and oxytocin, could influence the relationship between sexual activity and brain function.
“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,” says lead researcher Dr. Hayley Wright of Coventry University’s Centre for Research in Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement. “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.”
