Lecturer claims sex and chocolate improves the brain

9:57pm Friday 4th January 2008

By Nazia Parveen

A lecturer at Preston's University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) said sex and dark chocolate boost the brain.

Terry Horne, a senior business lecturer in the Lancashire Business School (LBS), has revealed that plenty of dark chocolate and protein for breakfast gives the brain the good start to the day while sex produces chemicals in your brain which helps you think.

Doing a business degree, reading out loud, cuddling a baby and doing your homework with someone else were also pinpointed as good for brain power but those wanting to improve their mental performance need to stay clear of soap operas, smoking cannabis, people who moan and avoid fat-free diets.

The findings, based on LBS research and the research of other experts from around the world, have been put together in a new book Terry has co-authored with LBS student Simon Wootton, called Training Your Brain.

He said: "For decades we have thought that the cognitive capacity of our brains is genetically determined, whereas it's now clear that it's in part a lifestyle choice.

"What we eat and drink, how we learn at school and the moods we have and the things we do can help or hinder the way we think.

"People can make lifestyle choices that will not only prevent what used to be seen as an inevitable decline in cognitive ability after the age of 17, but can constantly increase our cognitive capacity throughout our adult lives."

The book contains mental exercises and radical thinking on how diet, the environment, stress and other aspects of modern life affect mental capacity.

It claims sex has a positive impact, listing seven chemical reactions the brain undergoes during intercourse which improve its functioning ability.

For instance, raised levels of oxytocin - the trust' hormone - increase a person's readiness to think of novel or risky solutions to a problem.

Elements in dark chocolate are beneficial. Magnesium and theobromine increase the supply of oxygen to the brain and reduce the chances of brain damage through a stroke.

The book recommends readers should seek not happiness, but BLISS - Body-based pleasure, Laughter, Involvement, Satisfaction and Sex - which all enable the mind to perform well.

The business lecturer believes many people need to make changes that will increase their cognitive capacity because of the switch to a 'knowledge economy' from one based on manual labour and because of the expanding number of over-65s.

He said: "Mix with people who make you laugh, have a good sense of humour or who share the same interests as you.

"Avoid people who whinge, whine and complain, as people who are negative will make you depressed, which will impair your ability to think."

Research among LBS undergraduates has shown those following the book's advice can experience a big enough increase in cognitive capacity to make the difference between getting a top job and a merely average one," said Terry.