In a 2013 rat study published in the scientific journal Hippocampus, researchers found that sexual activity boosted neuron generation in areas of the brain associated with memory and cognition. This was true whether the animals underwent sexual exposure once or multiple times. In the long run, continuous sexual exposure was found to enhance cognition. When sexual activity was withdrawn from the animals for a period of time, however, this cognitive enhancement decreased.
How satisfied you are with your sex life may also play a role in cognition as you age. Researchers from a 2023 longitudinal study published in The Gerontologist assessed the erectile function and sexual satisfaction of 818 middle-age and older men. Lower levels of both erectile function and sexual satisfaction were found to be linked with future memory decline. “These associations survived adjustment for demographic and health factors, which tells us there is a clear connection between our sex lives and our cognition,” co-lead author Riki Slayday stated in a Penn State press release. “Improvements in sexual satisfaction may actually spark improvement in memory function,” co-author Martin Sliwinski added.