The over-50-year-olds who make up the Saga Populus panel are surveyed about everything from holidaying with grandchildren to their views on a tax on chewing-gum. In 2014, they were asked something more interesting: how often they had sex. Out of the sample of more than 9,000, 60% were sexually active, with just over 20% having sex once a week, and 26% having sex between once a fortnight and once a month.
The solution
Public attitudes being what they are, you might prefer that no one over 50 had sex at all. There is no middle-aged equivalent of Love Island. But continuing to have sex is linked to some excellent health outcomes, from lowering blood pressure to reducing the risk of prostate cancer, to looking younger.
The research is not robust, but there is a consistent link between quality of life and satisfaction with your sex life. Research released this week is no more definitive than previous studies – it was a small study, of 73 men and women aged between 50 and 83, that found those who had sex weekly scored better on cognitive tests such as verbal fluency. This last test is linked to working memory, which enables forward planning. So, if you had sex once a week you would be better at remembering what you need for supper as you go round the supermarket.
Sex as you get older is made undeniably trickier by everything from the menopause to arthritis. But, like other social and physical activity, it seems to protect the brain from cognitive decline. This latest study included oral and penetrative sex and masturbation – the researchers are soon to publish on the different effects of each type of sex on the brain. So fear not; you can improve cognitive function without a partner. Even petting was included.
The lead author, Dr Hayley Wright, from Coventry University, says the direction of the association between sex and brain power can’t be determined by her study. It could be that people who were good at remembering what to buy for supper may also be inclined to have more sex. But if there is a rationale for the effect, it could be that dopamine, which is released during sex, acts on the brain to improve working memory. “We’re not saying everyone needs to have sex,” she says. But what activity in later life could be better than one that bathes your brain in dopamine – and that society would rather you didn’t indulge in?
