WOW! Sex Might Actually Make You Smarter

Forget mindfulness meditation, computerized working-memory training, and learning a musical instrument; all methods recently shown by scientists to increase intelligence. There could be an easier answer. It turns out that sex might actually make you smarter.

Researchers in United States and South Korea recently found that sexual activity in mice and rats improves mental performance and increases neurogenesis (the production of new neurons) in the hippocampus, where long-term memories are formed.

"Sexual interaction could be helpful," researchers wrote, "for buffering adult hippocampal neurogenesis and recognition memory function against the suppressive actions of chronic stress."

So growing brain cells through sex does appear to have some basis in scientific fact.

But there's some debate over whether fake sex - pornography - could be harmful. American neuroscientists recently argued that excessive porn viewing, like other addictions, can result in permanent "anatomical and pathological" changes to the brain.

Whether or not porn "addiction" literally damages the brain, even brief viewing of pornographic images does interfere with people's "working memory" - the ability to mentally juggle and pay attention to multiple items. A study published last October in the Journal of Sex Research tested the working memory of 28 healthy individuals when they were asked to keep track of neutral, negative, positive, or pornographic stimuli. "Results revealed worse working memory performance in the pornographic picture condition," researchers concluded.

One myth about sex - or perhaps it's just a joke? - is that "testosterone poisoning" makes young men stupid. Actually, a 2007 study measured the level of testosterone in the saliva of prepubertal boys, including some who were intellectually gifted, some who were average, and some who were mentally challenged. Boys of average intelligence had significantly higher testosterone levels than both mentally challenged and intellectually gifted boys, with the latter two groups showing no significant difference between each other.

But if having sex can make people smarter, the opposite is not true: being smarter does not mean you'll have more sex. Smarter teens, in fact, tend to delay their initiation of coital activities.

In old age, too, cognitive abilities affect one's chances of getting lucky. A study published just last month found that older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a forerunner of Alzheimer's disease, were only about half as likely to have engaged recently in sexual activity as were their cognitively healthy peers. Of those with MCI, just 32.5 percent had recently engaged in sex, compared to 62.3 percent of those without MCI.

Perhaps, however, the dream of getting smarter through sex is just an alluring fantasy. Neuroscientists have reported that while many activities can increase the rate at which new brain cells are born, only effortful, successful learning increases their survival.