A new study by the universities
of Coventry and Oxford has revealed that frequent sexual activity can
improve brain function in older adults.
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Researchers found that people who
engaged in more regular sexual activity scored higher on tests that measured
their verbal fluency and their ability to visually perceive objects and the
spaces between them.
The study, published in The
Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, involved
73 people aged between 50 and 83.
Participants filled in a
questionnaire on how often, on average, they had engaged in sexual activity
over the past 12 months – whether that was never, monthly or weekly – as well
as answering questions about their general health and lifestyle.
The 28 men and 45 women also took
part in a standardized test, which is typically used to measure different
patterns of brain function in older adults, focusing 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.
They also took part in tests to
determine their visuospatial ability which included copying a complex design
and drawing a clock face from memory.
The results suggested that
frequency of sexual activity was not linked to attention, memory or language.
In these tests, the participants performed just as well regardless of whether
they reported weekly, monthly or no sexual activity.
Lead researcher Dr Hayley Wright,
from Coventry University’s Centre for Research in Psychology, Behaviour and
Achievement, 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.
“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.Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
“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.”
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