Sex Boosts Brain Growth 251
climenole writes "Sex apparently can help the brain grow, according to new findings in rats. Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious than virgins, Princeton scientists discovered. Past findings had shown that stressful, unpleasant events could stifle brain cell growth in adults. To see if pleasant albeit stressful experiences could have the opposite effect, researchers studied the effects of sex in rats."
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, organisms rewarded for proceating! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because they chose to focus on physical mastery over themselves, then managed to get a sweet gig making millions of dollars doing something fun doesn't make them "morons." Hell, if I could make a mint playing games all day, why would I bother looking for the Higgs Boson?
Besides, consider the following: The major goal in any living being's life is to ensure the survival of his genes. Those who get the most action have the best chance of doing so, which means on a sub-conscious, primal level they're going to have less to worry about. That means they won't be distracted from focusing on what's important to them.
If more nerds got some, maybe we'd have the Higgs Boson on lock already.
Re:Yea but (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Why limit sex strictly to intercourse? Surely there are Slashdotters out there who masturbate frequently.
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
If not, that might explain the /. crowd....
Re:Bullshit (Score:1, Insightful)
The major goal in any gene's life is to ensure the survival of his genes.
FTFY
Re:Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
hmmm...
Make millions playing a kid's game and screw a different blonde, or redhead, every night or live in poverty while chasing the Higgs Boson.
oh, which to choose? Which to choose?
So, who is really smarter? The guy that lived with a basketball growing up, or the guy who lived with that physics text book?
Re:Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
Stressed and axious people are not the typical types that lead. Leaders are more atractive because they are garanteed to protect others from dying in certain dangerous situations.
Evolution theory, bitches.
That doesn't mean that your typical athlete would ever outgrow the brains of who is too stressed to let his/her brain grow that fast.
BTW orgasms where good for about ten thousand brain cells, right? How much brain cells do you think you loose when you bang a soccerball with your head? About the same.
It all means nothing, but it is somewhat a little interesting I guess...
Re:Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
If that were the case /. would be full of retards and the NBA would be full of geniuses.
How do you know it's not that way? Just because the NBA players don't have incentive to study doesn't mean they couldn't be genius level scholars. They could all have powerful brains that would put us all to shame. However brain growth != knowledge. New brain cells typically are useless unless you fill them with something. TFA didn't claim that the rats also studied productive material and began working for the good of science.
Re:Clearly, these rats don't pay child support. (Score:3, Insightful)
I think academic performance comes down to upbringing, not race. Although races might place different levels of importance on some things. The asian kid got straight As and never saw action because his parents demanded he excel in school and didn't allow him to socialize. Once you socialize too much grades inevitably suffer. Asians are no smarter than anyone else. Live in Asia for a while and you'll be cured of that misconception. It's like foreign kids who excel in college. They do well because they specifically came to the US to study and are appreciative of the opportunity.
Americans, on the other hand, don't appreciate what they have and are in school to study. And worse, in certain communities positive role models and discipline are seriously lacking. And there's too much of an anti-establishment attitude. The ability is there, it's just totally wasted. I'd say sexual activity is more of symptom than a cause.
Re:Now I understand... (Score:5, Insightful)
Aside from the funny part, that is closer to the truth than you like.
Most of our current mainstream religions, i.e. the monotheistic, abrahamic ones, basically need you to feel horrible because their story says the world is bad and the afterlife can be good if (and only if) you follow their teachings.
It's hard to feel like shit after a good night with a lover. Your desire for spiritual salvation is quite a bit low after a hot threesome. Your belief that this world is all bad and evil and only the afterlife counts is kind of weak in the middle of getting your brains fucked out.
Look at the pope and try to take him seriously.
Now fuck for an hour and then look at the pope and try to take him seriously.
You'll notice a considerable difference.
Re:Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
That's funny. I couldn't give a rat's ass if my genes get passed on. However, I do enjoy having a partner for the companionship and love it brings. There's more than one reason to pair up with someone you love; passing on your genes is only one of them.
I get a lot more out of a few hours snuggling in the dark talking with someone I care about than a quick session of mindless sex with someone I just met. Does this make me strange, or does it prove that "passing your genes on" isn't the only factor here? I'd say the latter.
Although I AM pretty strange sometimes. But that has less to do with sex and more to do with normal being boring. ;)
Well... (Score:1, Insightful)
Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious than virgins.
...blow me down with a feather!
I smell an IgNobel award brewing....
Re:Yea but (Score:5, Insightful)
"Self service" obviously doesn't count. If it did then dogs, and not man, would be running the world...
You mean the dogs who we take into our warm houses, give them a nice place to sleep, feed them, wash them, walk around after them and pick up their poop for them, and tell them "Go lay down now! Good dog!" I for one welcome our pampered canine overlords...
Re:Bullshit (Score:2, Insightful)
What makes them morons is the fact that their definition of "fun" is throwing a ball at a hoop.
Throwing a ball at a hoop is easy. Out-smarting, -running, -playing other people is the fun part.
Someone who considers it fun to hunt for the Higgs Boson certainly has a much more evolved brain, because so much more reasoning is needed for that.
Different skills. A game of basketball requires making dozens of decisions every second, for 80 minutes. A course in physics requires maybe a dozen decisions an hour, for 80 hours. The Higgs Boson isn't hard to find because it requires a genius. It's hard to find because it requires more data than any one person can collect and interpret.
You don't know about basketball, physics, or basic psychology. Why should anybody care what you think?
Re:Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
Masturbation is not in any way nearly as satisfying as sex with a human being. If it were, our species would have died out long ago.
Re:Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
So, who is really smarter? The guy that lived with a basketball growing up, or the guy who lived with that physics text book?
The guy with the textbook. He's at least going to get a job with a university and have a shot at making a big doscovery, while 99.99% of the sports wannabes are going to be asking of you want fries with that, or more likely, sitting in a prison cell.
Re:Now I understand... (Score:2, Insightful)
As a christian, I can assure you that you have no idea what you're talking about.
Aside from the funny part, that is closer to the truth than you like.
Most of our current mainstream religions, i.e. the monotheistic, abrahamic ones, basically need you to feel horrible because their story says the world is bad and the afterlife can be good if (and only if) you follow their teachings.
There are a lot of happy/unhappy people who are/aren't christian. Maybe it's not about that?
Is the world bad? Just ask the millions of non-upper-middle-class-white-western-civilization people for whom life most assuredly sucks on a daily basis. You don't need Christianity to prove the world is bad.
It's hard to feel like shit after a good night with a lover. Your desire for spiritual salvation is quite a bit low after a hot threesome.
And when was the last time that happened to you? Oh right, never. There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples, even, gasp, those that waited until they were married.
Let's see how much fun that threesome is after you get multiple diseases.
Look at the pope and try to take him seriously.
I'm not catholic. I don't take the pope seriously. Please stop lumping us all together.
Re:Now I understand... (Score:3, Insightful)
There are studies that show that christian couples have more and better sex than non-christian couples, even, gasp, those that waited until they were married.
I'd like to see those studies that you're referring to, please.