Here's another reason to love science: researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Coventry recently published a study that claims having sex more often could actually make you smarter.
The research was published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, and surveyed 73 participants between the ages of 50 and 83.
Just over half of the respondents (37) said that they have sex weekly, 26 said they have sex monthly, and 10 said they never have sex. Those who have sex most often scored higher on a test of cognitive abilities than the others, with better "verbal fluency" (aka being able to name the most words or animals that started with the letter F in one minute.)
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Those who had more sex also did better on visual tests, though there wasn't a big difference for memory, language, or attentiveness.
The study researchers aren't sure exactly why having more sex is linked to better verbal and visual abilities, but theorize that it might have something to do with hormones such as dopamine or oxytocin that are released into the brain during sex.
It could also be that having sex more often correlates to a more active life overall, which has been connected to better brain function in previous research.
Remember, though, that this is a small study. While the results of only 73 people can't definitely say that having sex at least once a week makes you smarter — what can it hurt?
At the very least, more frequent sex can give you and your partner more time to connect. And at the most, it just might bolster your brain power.
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