Whether you score your climaxes with a partner(s) or during solo masturbation sessions, orgasms not only feel good, but are excellent for you. Both your physical health and mental health benefit from the feel-good hormones (oxytocin and friends) that are released during orgasms. As the saying doesn’t actually go, an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away. As much as orgasms keep your body and mind in tip-top shape, there’s also evidence that they can make you smarter.
According to a 2017 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, brain activity in women increased as their bodies prepared to orgasm. When they hit the money spot of climax, that activity reached its peak before decreasing after the orgasm. Contrary to what we’ve heard about the brain shutting off during orgasm, this study showed there was “no deactivation of brain regions leading up to or during orgasm.” Instead, several regions lit up, so to speak, when the brain realized an orgasm was on its way. Naturally, if this is the case, the more orgasms you have, the more often your brain activity is increased (and thus, the smarter you are). But this isn’t the only research that suggests orgasms can make one smarter or positively contribute to your brain.
Orgasms can spark brain cell growth
If you think your growth has completely stopped, you’re wrong, especially when it comes to the brain. According to a 2010 study published in Plos One, sex can lead to neurogenesis (the process of new neurons being formed) in the hippocampus. Although the hippocampus plays a role in a few different brain functions, the two that matter here in regards to “smartness” are learning and memory, both short- and long-term of the latter.
The reason behind this cell growth in the hippocampus comes down to anxiety (and having it or not). When people have what the researchers call “chronic sexual experience,” it can reduce negative stress, also known as anxiety — something that everyone who’s ever had an orgasm already knows — and the brain benefits in a positive way. This is because where there’s negative stress, neurogenesis is reduced. In other words, more orgasms mean greater anxiety regulation and more brain cells.
Orgasms can improve cognitive function
Even if your elder years are still decades away, you should be thinking now about your cognitive function. According to the Cleveland Clinic, up to 8% of people over 65 have a form of dementia, and it’s estimated that the percentage jumps up to 50 once people reach their mid-80s. It’s no big secret that with age comes cognitive decline, but if there was a way to prevent it or at least slow its arrival, wouldn’t that be great? Enter: orgasms.
A 2016 study published in Age and Ageing found that sexual activity keeps the brain nice and sharp. Adults between 50 and 89 who were sexually active scored higher on both memory and overall cognitive function tests. When experts suggest ways that older people can avoid so many senior moments, keeping the brain engaged is always on the list. If engaging your brain means stepping up your orgasm rate, then there’s no easier or more fun way to do it. It also counts as physical activity, which is another thing that’s important as you age.
While more and more orgasms will not make you the next Einstein or Marilyn vos Savant (whose IQ is reportedly 228 – even higher than Einstein’s 160), they will get your brain moving in the right direction. Like any other part of the body, the brain needs exercise. So, if you can do that with more orgasms, then why not? It certainly isn’t hurting you.