We’ve all been there: you want to have sex but you also feel like you probably ought to do some sudokus to improve your cognitive function instead. It’s quite the dilemma. 
 
 But feel conflicted no more, because a new study has concluded that sex makes you smarter. 
 
 Specifically in older people, regular sexual activity is linked to keeping your brain sharp. 
 
 “Sexual relationships in later life are... not just important for sex per se, [they are] impacting on other factors, in this case cognitive function,” said lead researcher Dr Hayley Wright from Coventry University’s centre for research in psychology, behaviour and achievement. 
 
 Researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Coventry asked 73 participants - 28 men and 45 women - aged between 50 and 83 about their sexual activity. 
 
 37 said they had sex weekly, 26 monthly and 10 never. 
 
 Brain function of the participants was then assessed, and the researchers found that those who had sex the most often scored on average two percentage points higher in some tasks than those who had sex monthly and four points higher than those who never had sex. 
 
 The study, published in the The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, concluded that having regular sex had the biggest impact on verbal fluency tests - for example, naming as many words or animals beginning with the letter F as possible in one minute. 
 
 The cartoons that perfectly sum up relationships + show all The cartoons that perfectly sum up relationships 1/10 Catana Chetwynd 2/10 Catana Chetwynd 3/10 Catana Chetwynd 4/10 Catana Chetwynd 5/10 Catana Chetwynd 6/10 Catana Chetwynd 7/10 Catana Chetwynd 8/10 Catana Chetwynd 9/10 Catana Chetwynd 10/10 Catana Chetwynd 1/10 Catana Chetwynd 2/10 Catana Chetwynd 3/10 Catana Chetwynd 4/10 Catana Chetwynd 5/10 Catana Chetwynd 6/10 Catana Chetwynd 7/10 Catana Chetwynd 8/10 Catana Chetwynd 9/10 Catana Chetwynd 10/10 Catana Chetwynd 
 
 The most sexually active people also did better in visual tests too, such as copying from a complex pictorial design or drawing a clock face from memory, although this was too a lesser extent than the verbal fluency tests. 
 
 There was no real difference when it came to the participants’ performance in memory, language and attentiveness tests though. 
 
 The study authors are not certain why the link between sexual activity and brainpower exists, but they suggest that sex is linked to the secretion of neurohormones such as dopamine or oxytocin that transmit signals in the brain. More research needs to be done though. 
 
 The findings emerge as new figures from Match, who are launching a dating site for the older generation called Ourtime, reveal that 24 per cent of over 50s say they’d sleep with a new partner within one month of dating, compared to just 18 per cent of 18-24 year olds. 
 
 “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,” said Dr Wright. 
 
 “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. 
 
 “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.” 
 
 The Independent's Millennial Love group is the best place to discuss to the highs and lows of modern dating and relationships. Join the conversation here.​ 

 More frequent sexual activity has been linked to improved brain function in older adults, according to a study by the universities of Coventry and Oxford. 
 
 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 today 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 standardised test, which is typically used to measure different patterns of brain function in older adults, focussing 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. 
 
 It was these two sets of tests where participants who engaged in weekly sexual activity scored the most highly, with the verbal fluency tests showing the strongest effect. 
 
 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. 
 
 This study expanded on previous research from 2016, which found that older adults who were sexually active scored higher on cognitive tests than those who were not sexually active. 
 
 But this time the research looked more specifically at the impact of the frequency of sexual activity (i.e. does it make a difference how often you engage in sexual activity) and also used a broader range of tests to investigate different areas of cognitive function. 
 
 The academics say further research could look at how biological elements, such as dopamine and oxytocin, could influence the relationship between sexual activity and brain function to give a fuller explanation of their findings. 
 
 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. 
 
 "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." 
 
 ### 

 Abstract 
 
 Objectives This study replicates and extends the findings of previous research (Wright, H., & Jenks, R. A. (2016). Sex on the brain! Associations between sexual activity and cognitive function in older age. Age and Ageing, 45, 313–317. doi:10.1093/ageing/afv197) which found a significant association between sexual activity (SA) and cognitive function in older adults. Specifically, this study aimed to generalize these findings to a range of cognitive domains, and to assess whether increasing SA frequency is associated with increasing scores on a variety of cognitive tasks. Methods Seventy-three participants aged 50–83 years took part in the study (38.4% male, 61.6% female). Participants completed the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-III (ACE-III) cognitive assessment and a questionnaire on SA frequency (never, monthly, or weekly), and general health and lifestyle. Results Weekly SA was a significant predictor of total ACE-III, fluency, and visuospatial scores in regression models, including age, gender, education, and cardiovascular health. Discussion Greater frequency of SA was associated with better overall ACE-III scores and scores on subtests of verbal fluency and visuospatial ability. Both of these tasks involve working memory and executive function, and links between sexual behavior, memory, and dopamine are discussed. The findings have implications for the maintenance of intimate relationships in later life. 
 
 Increased engagement in mental, social, and physical activity is linked to a lower rate of cognitive decline in older adults (Marioni, van den Hout, Valenzuela, Brayne, & Matthews, 2012; Valenzuela & Sachdev, 2006), with different activities benefitting different cognitive domains (Wang et al., 2013). Research also shows a significant association between sexual activity (SA) and cognitive function in later life (Wright & Jenks, 2016). In terms of the impact on cognition, it is not yet clear whether SA functions as social engagement, or physical activity, or both (alongside emotional, psychological, and biological elements). However, given the complexity of SA and the potential for transcending mental, physical, and social functions, it is possible that increasing frequency of SA (like other activities; Wang et al., 2013) may correspond to better cognition. 
 
 Wright and Jenks (2016) reported broad cognitive measures (i.e., word recall and number sequencing) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; Steptoe, Breeze, Banks, & Nazroo, 2013), categorized under the umbrella terms of “memory” and “executive function”. Though word recall and number sequencing are distinct tasks, they may be underpinned by the same cognitive process(es), that is, working memory (Ackerman, Beier, & Boyle, 2005), as complex cognitive tasks often rely on a wide variety of underlying cognitive processes (Salthouse, 2011). Therefore, we cannot tell from the previous study (Wright & Jenks, 2016) whether SA is linked to global cognition or to specific cognitive domains. 
 
 The current study explores whether higher SA frequency is associated with better scores on the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III ([ACE-III]; Hsieh, Schubert, Hoon, Mioshi, & Hodges, 2013). The ACE-III is a validated measure of cognitive function which provides brief measures of five cognitive domains: attention, memory, fluency, language, and visuospatial abilities. 
 
 Methods 
 
 Participants 
 
 Seventy-three participants (28 males, 45 females) aged 50–83 years (M = 61.6; SD = 7.8) were recruited through opportunity sampling via response to adverts disseminated by local community networks. The advert specified that participants should be over the age of 50 years, with no history of dementia, memory impairment, or brain injury. The advertisement stated that the study would involve questions around sexual activities, but that those who were not partnered or not sexually active were equally eligible to take part. Participants were paid a small fee for their time, and the study was approved by the University Research Ethics Committee. 
 
 Materials 
 
 The ACE-III (Hsieh et al., 2013) was administered according to the standardized guidelines. In addition, participants were asked to fill in a health and lifestyle questionnaire which we devised based on key questions and covariates of interest (see Design section). 
 
 Procedure 
 
 All participants read a Participant Information Sheet and signed a written informed consent form prior to testing. Testing sessions included administration of the ACE-III and the health and lifestyle questionnaire, in a counterbalanced order. All participants were fully debriefed after testing. 
 
 Design 
 
 Predictor variables 
 
 The main variable of interest was frequency of SA over the past 12 months. This was selfreported by participants from multiple choice options of “never”, “monthly”, or “weekly”. In line with previous studies (Wright & Jenks, 2016) and ELSA Wave 6 (Lee, Nazroo, O’Connor, Blake, & Pendleton, 2016), SA was defined as engagement in sexual intercourse, masturbation, or petting/fondling. 
 
 We included age in years, years in education, gender, and cardiovascular health in the multiple regression models. Age and education are key variables known to influence cognitive function (Salthouse, 1996) and gender was included as a standard demographic variable. Cardiovascular health was included as a key physical health variable associated with both cognition and sexual behavior (Desjardins-Crépeau et al., 2014; Levine et al., 2012). Participants indicated if they had any current or previous heart problems (e.g., angina, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and coronary heart disease) with a “yes” or “no” response on the questionnaire. Depression, loneliness, and quality of life were measured to assess social wellbeing, using the CES-D (Radloff, 1977; Steffick, 2000), UCLA 3-item loneliness scale (Hughes, Waite, Hawkley, & Cacioppo, 2004), and CASP-19 (Hyde, Wiggins, Higgs, & Blane, 2003), respectively. 
 
 Dependent variables 
 
 The dependent variables were scores derived from the ACE-III: Total ACE-III score (max. 100), and sub-scores on tests of cognitive domains; attention (max. 18), memory (max. 26), fluency (max. 14), language (max. 26), and visuospatial (max. 16). All scores were calculated as instructed in the user manual. Domain-specific tests included semantic and phonemic verbal fluency (each converted to score bands 1–7 and summed for total score), figure copy, and drawing from memory, numeracy (counting backwards from 100 in sevens), and verbal information learning, recall, and recognition. The tests within the ACE-III have been described in detail elsewhere (Hsieh et al., 2013). 
 
 Data analysis 
 
 All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Multiple linear regression was used to assess predictors of cognitive function. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher’s exact test were used to assess differences in scores on all cognitive domains and demographic variables between the SA frequency groups. 
 
 Results 
 
 An overview of the demographics of the sample is presented in Supplementary Table 1, across SA frequency groups. 
 
 There was a significant association between SA frequency and gender, where all respondents who reported no SA over the past 12 months (n = 10) were female. Of those reporting monthly SA, just over a third were male (34.6%), whereas reports of weekly SA were more evenly distributed (51.4% male). Across the SA frequency groups, there were no significant differences in age, education, cardiovascular health, marital status, depression, loneliness, or quality of life (see Supplementary Table 1). 
 
 To adjust for the effects of age, gender, education, and cardiovascular health, multiple regression was carried out for the total ACE-III scores, as well as for each of the five cognitive domain subscores (Table 1; Supplementary Table 2). The reference category for all was weekly SA, as this was the largest group. No SA (“Never”) was a significant predictor of lower total ACE-III scores (M = 89.4, SD = 6.8, β = −0.27, p = .038). Similarly, no SA (M = 11.5, SD = 1.3, β = −0.33, p = .014) and monthly SA (M = 12.1, SD = 2.1, β = −0.26, p = .037) were significant predictors of lower fluency scores. Monthly SA (M = 14.9, SD = 1.3, β = −0.23, p = .051) was a marginally significant predictor of lower visuospatial scores (Table 1). Frequency of SA was not a significant predictor of attention, memory, or language scores (Supplementary Table 2). 
 
 Table 1. B SE B β p R2 f2 Total ACE-III scores Constant 100.98 7.91 <.001 Age (years) −0.15 0.09 −0.21 .096 Gender (ref: female) −0.75 1.43 −0.06 .603 Education (years) 0.25 0.18 0.17 .168 Cardiovascular problems (ref: none) 0.19 2.33 0.01 .936 Frequency of SA (ref: weekly) Monthly −1.86 1.40 −0.16 .189 Never −4.39 2.07 −0.27 .038 0.19 0.23 Fluency scores Constant 12.73 2.47 <.001 Age (years) 0.01 0.03 0.02 .857 Gender (ref: female) 0.08 0.45 0.02 .851 Education (years) −0.01 0.06 −0.01 .923 Cardiovascular problems (ref: none) −0.77 0.73 −0,12 .295 Frequency of SA (ref: weekly) Monthly −0.93 0.44 −0.26 .037 Never −1.63 0.65 −0.33 .014 0.13 0.15 Visuospatial scores Constant 16.41 1.51 <.001 Age (years) −0.02 0.02 −0.15 .235 Gender (ref: female) −0.39 0.27 −0.17 .161 Education (years) 0.06 0.03 0.22 .077 Cardiovascular problems (ref: none) −0.16 0.45 −0.04 .724 Frequency of SA (ref: weekly) Monthly −0.53 0.27 −0.23 .051 Never −0.39 0.40 −0.12 .323 0.20 0.25 B SE B β p R2 f2 Total ACE-III scores Constant 100.98 7.91 <.001 Age (years) −0.15 0.09 −0.21 .096 Gender (ref: female) −0.75 1.43 −0.06 .603 Education (years) 0.25 0.18 0.17 .168 Cardiovascular problems (ref: none) 0.19 2.33 0.01 .936 Frequency of SA (ref: weekly) Monthly −1.86 1.40 −0.16 .189 Never −4.39 2.07 −0.27 .038 0.19 0.23 Fluency scores Constant 12.73 2.47 <.001 Age (years) 0.01 0.03 0.02 .857 Gender (ref: female) 0.08 0.45 0.02 .851 Education (years) −0.01 0.06 −0.01 .923 Cardiovascular problems (ref: none) −0.77 0.73 −0,12 .295 Frequency of SA (ref: weekly) Monthly −0.93 0.44 −0.26 .037 Never −1.63 0.65 −0.33 .014 0.13 0.15 Visuospatial scores Constant 16.41 1.51 <.001 Age (years) −0.02 0.02 −0.15 .235 Gender (ref: female) −0.39 0.27 −0.17 .161 Education (years) 0.06 0.03 0.22 .077 Cardiovascular problems (ref: none) −0.16 0.45 −0.04 .724 Frequency of SA (ref: weekly) Monthly −0.53 0.27 −0.23 .051 Never −0.39 0.40 −0.12 .323 0.20 0.25 View Large 
 
 Discussion 
 
 The current study replicates previous findings (Wright & Jenks, 2016), showing that overall cognitive scores were consistently higher in those who are sexually active compared to those than those who are not. It extends these findings by showing increasing scores on two specific cognitive domains (fluency and visuospatial ability; with the latter approaching significance) with increasing frequency of SA (from never, to monthly, to weekly). 
 
 It is noteworthy that in Wright and Jenks (2016), the differences in cognitive scores between sexually active and inactive groups were very small, and so it may be that a greater sample size is required to detect subtle differences in scores for other domains in the current study. It is interesting that gender was not a significant predictor in the current models, especially since the “Never” (i.e., no SA) group contained only females. Research shows that females are less likely to report SA than males, which may represent differential remarriage rates, or females becoming widowed earlier than males (Lindau et al., 2007). This requires consideration in future studies. 
 
 Previous research has speculated that mental, physical, and social activities protect cognition through cognitive reserve, reduced inflammatory processes, and reduced risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease (Wang et al., 2013). Furthermore, we propose a biological relationship between SA frequency and cognition. We found a significant association between SA and fluency and visuospatial ability (although the latter was marginally significant, it did have a moderate effect size), which both rely on executive function. The current findings align with the theory of increased SA leading to enhanced dopamine secretion (Melis & Argiolas, 1995), which is linked to improved working memory and executive function in older adults (Chowdhury, Guitart-Masip, Bunzeck, Dolan, & Düzel, 2012; McNab et al., 2009; Baskerville & Douglas, 2008). Verbal fluency is a robust measure of three components of executive function (updating, shifting, and inhibition; Miyake & Friedman, 2012). Therefore, as a complex executive function task, verbal fluency is arguably the most sensitive of the ACE-III tasks to detect subtle differences between SA groups. Future studies should directly incorporate biological measures (e.g., dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin; Reyes et al., 2014) to explore the influence of these factors in the complex relationship between SA and cognition. 
 
 The current study was limited by the definition of SA (i.e., intercourse, masturbation, and petting), combining different behaviors under one umbrella term, as in ELSA (Lee et al., 2015). While this definition adequately addresses the aims of this paper, we question whether the implications of partnered versus solo activities would be different in terms of cognitive function. This field of study is still relatively young, and we plan to address such details in our subsequent research. Further limitations are posed by the relatively small sample size in this study, which precludes the addition of all other covariates of interest (e.g., physical activity, sociodemographics, further health measures, and marital/cohabiting status) which may have mediating effects on SA frequency and cognition. The addition of these variables, however, did not attenuate the association between SA and cognition in a nationally representative sample (Wright & Jenks, 2016). Furthermore, the coefficients of determination for the current models were in line with previous studies using larger samples (e.g., Wright & Jenks, 2016), giving confidence that the current results are reliable. Finally, as this was a cross-sectional non-experimental study, we cannot infer a causal relationship between SA and cognitive function, but aim to address this question as longitudinal data become available in larger cohort studies. 
 
 The current study demonstrates that older men and women who engage in regular SA have better cognitive functioning than those who do not engage in SA, or do so infrequently. Aside from the possible biological underpinnings, this aligns with literature showing neuroprotective properties of increased social, physical, and mental engagement in later life (Marioni et al., 2012; Valenzuela & Sachdev, 2006; Wang et al., 2013). At this time, we can only speculate that continued engagement in regular SA may have a positive influence on cognitive function, but whether SA contributes to cognitive function above and beyond social and physical factors (Wang et al., 2013) is a question for future research. Nevertheless, the findings have important implications for the maintenance of intimate relationships in later life. 
 
 Supplementary Material 
 
 Supplementary data is available at The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences online. 
 
 Funding 
 
 This work was supported by the Coventry University Pump-Prime Research Grant Scheme. 
 
 Conflicts of Interest 
 
 None declared. 
 
 Acknowledgments 
 
 We would like to thank Claire Pillinger for assistance with data collection. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor Glyn Humphreys for his support and guidance during this project. 
 
 References 
 
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 © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.
– "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," Dr. Hayley Wright says in a press release. Wright and her fellow researchers published a study Wednesday in the Journals of Gerontology that found older adults who reported having more-frequent sex also scored better on tests measuring verbal fluency and the ability to accurately see objects and spaces between them. The study looked at 73 people between the ages of 50 and 83. The Independent reports 37 subjects had sex weekly over the past year, 26 had sex monthly, and 10 hadn't had any sex. The subjects having sex weekly scored an average of two percentage points higher on the tests than those having sex monthly and four percentage points higher than those having no sex. The biggest improvement was in verbal fluency, in this instance measured by having subjects name as many words staring with the letter F and animals as possible within a time limit. Wright says it's unclear whether the link between sex and improved brain function is due to "social or physical elements," and more research is needed. For older people for whom sex isn't an option for whatever reason, the Toronto Sun reports exercise, managing blood pressure, and some brain games have been shown to help maintain brain function. (Two ways video games affect a man's sex drive.)