A recent study has found that engaging in sex regularly can make people smarter.

Researchers at the University of Maryland credited frequent sexual activity to brainpower after they tested middle-aged rats that developed more brain cells after mating. However, the scientists suggest that the benefits to the brain were lost the minute the rats stopped mating. A study published last year suggests that having sex counteracts the effect of stress on the brain of mice.

"Being smarter does not necessarily mean you'll have more sex. Smarter teens, in fact, tend to delay the initiation of their coital activities", according to the Atlantic website. "Sexual interaction could be helpful for buffering adult hippocampal neurogenesis or the production of new neurons in the hippocampus and recognition function against the suppressive actions of chronic stress."

Psychologist Tracey Shors also said that hard work is needed if these cells are to survive. "You can make new cells with exercise, Prozac and sex. If you do mental training, you'll keep alive more of the cells you produced. And if you do both, now you have the best of both worlds - you're making more cells and keeping more alive."

However, the researchers stressed that fake sex such as porn via computer may have the opposite effect. A team from the University of Texas claims that excessive porn viewing can result in permanent "anatomical and pathological" changes to the brain. On the other hand, researchers from the University of California argued by saying it "offered little, if any, convincing evidence to support their perspectives."