Sex boosts brains in over-50s
OLDER people looking to boost their brainpower have long been told that they should eat their greens or do a cryptic crossword.
But there may now be a more interesting way to improve brain function – having sex more often.
Those who kept their love life going into their twilight years were found to have improved fluency and spatial skills, which could make everyday life easier in older age, a study by Oxford and Coventry universities found.
Sex is believed to release the ‘happy hormone’ dopamine into the brain, helping with complex mental tasks.
Lead author Dr Hayley Wright said: ‘This study shows that more sex at an older age is linked with better brain power, suggesting it could potentially help to keep the brain a bit sharper as we age. It is a reminder that it is impor- tant to maintain intimate relationships when you are older.
‘There is still a taboo, where older people don’t want to talk about having sex, and some people don’t want to think about it, but this shows it could be very positive.’
Researchers at Coventry University had previously found having sex improved older people’s memory – but did not look at how often participants had sex.
The updated study, published in the Journals of Gerontology Series B, asked 73 people aged between 50 and 83 how often they had sex in the previous 12 months – never, monthly or weekly.
In tests of their brainpower, those who had sex weekly scored 2 per cent higher than those who did every month. And their cognitive abilities were 4 per cent better than those who had been celibate for the past year.
An olive oil-rich diet may protect against dementia, a US study found. Temple University tests on mice showed it helped keep signs of Alzheimer’s at bay. Professor Domenico Pratico said it was ‘a very important discovery’.