Sex Could Improve Your Memory, Research Says

The prospect of losing your memory as you get older is alarming, indeed. But did you know having more sex is an anecdote to this dreadful possibility? No? Well, science says so!

Led by Mark Allen, the University of Wollongong in Australia conducted a long-term study that linked memory with sex. Allen tracked the diet, socio-economic status, sleeping habits, and the health and well-being of more than 6,000 adults aged 50 and above. These participants were asked to complete a questionnaire where they detailed how often they kissed, made out, and had sex. They also signed up for a memory test, and two years later, a second memory task was given to them.

Evidently, those who engaged in regular sexual activities performed better in the memory tests than others. This connection between memory and sex was seen more prominently among older participants.

According to Allen, sexual intimacy tends to stimulate the growth of neurons in the hippocampus and other parts of the brain that are associated with memory.

Participants who regularly got down and dirty were able to remember recent events and perform better in short-term memory tests than those who didn’t make out often. But in the long run, there’s no proof of any correlation at all between sex and a decline in memory performance.  

In another research conducted by the Manchester University, 1700 people aged between 58 and 98 were surveyed. It came to light that those who’d been getting busy on the bed from time to time had better brain power than sexually inactive people.

A 2010 study discovered that rodents which engaged in sexual activity once daily for a period of 14 consecutive days began growing more neurons in the hippocampus than rats which had been allowed to have sex only once. Similar tests were carried out in mice with the same results_ sex was found to enhance their overall brain health and improve their ability to recognize objects. And as mice share a number of similarities with us… well, you get the hint.

The Coventry and the Oxford Universities joined hands in 2017 to run a research on the association between frequent sexual activity and brain function in older adults. Information about the lifestyle, general health, and sexual activity frequency of 73 participants aged 50 to 83 was analyzed. The study found that sexually active people scored higher in terms of verbal fluency. When it came to their ability to judge the space between objects and visually perceive things, their results got better again. The scientists explained that this was so because people’s memory performance and perception can be influenced by the release of hormones like oxytocin and dopamine after sex.

Researchers at McGill University in Canada asked 78 women under the age of 30 to participate in a couple of memory tests. Turns out, sex can help women recall abstract words, although the same can’t be said for their ability to remember people’s faces.

Several other studies have been conducted to confirm the advantageous effects of sex on human memory. So if you were looking for an excuse to get intimate more frequently, you have one now!