Mrs. Khaki Pants | Neurobic Sex Inspires Smarter Brains

via Flickr’s CaseyJ
Regular sex, especially the tantalizing, catch-me-if-you-can kind, may improve your memory and even make you smarter.

Studies show that intense stimulation, like the kind creative sex provides, can produce brain chemicals that stimulate cells to grow new dendrites — the filaments attached to nerve cells. Dendrites allow neurons to communicate with one another.

The more dendrites you have, explains now-deceased Lawrence Katz, Ph.D., former professor of neurobiology at the Duke University Medical Center, the better you learn and the more you remember.

Routine-Deadened Dendrites

Dendrites act as a communication interstate in our brain, allowing you to move from one place to another efficiently, without getting lost.

A map of your brain is filled with everything that matters in your life: your office, the dog sitter, your favorite shopping center; the kid’s school, your church, the kitchen — including the location of the silverware drawer.

Like many minivan moms, you drive a regular route daily, not even needing your brain map.

Perfect Alignment Lives

Routines are the fabric of our lives. 21st century women are champion multi-taskers, proud of our ability to execute fundamental tasks on autopilot.

In reality, routines may be efficient, but our bored brains take a snooze.

Familiarity can decrease stress, bringing order to the daily chaos of kids, football practice, piano lessons and the French tutor, PLUS the power point presentation due for work in the morning.

Critical as they seem to our wellbeing, these routines don’t nourish our brains. Routines depress neurotrophins, a family of proteins that induce the survival, development and function of neurons.

Orderly Habits

All of your personal habits — a quick shower, never a soothing bumble bath; wearing the same perfume for 10 years, not one single spritz of a new fragrance tempting your wrist; shopping at the same grocery store and never the local farmer’s market — every habitual activity  contributes to an avoidable loss of brain power.

To activate neuron production and dendrite growth, we must not only change our routine, but break away from familiarity in a significant way.

Changing your brand of laundry detergent  won’t activate any switches. Writing with your left hand, when you are right-handed, will activate new brain circuits and enhance neurotrophin production.

via Flickr’s CaseyJ

Disorderly Engagement

For an exercise to be neurobic, Dr. Katz stipulated one or more Must Dos:

1. Involve one or more of your senses in a novel context.
2. Fully engage your attention.
3. Break a routine activity in an unexpected, novel way.

Now we’re getting down to bedrock on the topic of sex, dendrite growth, and youthful, agile brains.

Dr. Katz states unequivocally that neurobic sex must meet at least one of these criteria.

I suppose jumping into bed together might jumpstart neurotrophin production, simply because it’s been so long since you two met in bed. Dr. Katz definitely had a more novel passion in mind, a tryst created with imagination and fantasy, and perhaps a bit of psychological envelope-pushing.

Time Out

It’s time now for you to pause and remember my promise from yesterday. You aren’t FIXING anything in this adventure with me. Why? Because nothing is wrong with you. You are fabulous.

For one moment, please forget the loss of libido that often comes with birth control pills, perimenopause, declining testosterone and estrogen, high cholesterol, cortisol levels that are off the charts, a darling baby who wakes up at 3am, lack of exercise and the effects of prescription anti-depressants.

The above is only a partial list of libido-killers. Today we are taking a time out from them and from any other passion-buster realities not critical for life support.

Take all those topics and put them in one of those imaginary Oprah boxes. Don’t bury the container in the garden or throw it out the 18th floor window. I’ll have every MD between New York and San Francisco on the phone. Keep your box handy but in another room.

For a moment, please play along with me. You don’t need fixing, not now, this minute. Remember, ours is a new ball game. YOU are perfectly wonderful specimen of a woman.

“This” Neurobic Sex Challenge Is Not About You

When it comes to sex, you’ve done it hundreds of times. You’ve been married to your husband for 20 years; and, quite frankly, there’s nothing new in your picnic hamper, not even a blanket for making out in the backyard, under the stars.

He’s a great guy, your one-time stud muffin: a fantastic provider and truly wonderful father. But when it comes to sexual imagination … well, let’s just say he’s spent a few too many years alone with the remote control.

Monday night football has dulled his sexual brain permanently, speaking of a lack of dendrite growth, and inhibited neurotrophin production.

via Flickr Casey J

YOU are another story, Mrs. Khaki Pants … & Company.

I’m sorry dear reader. You thought I’ve been talking to you. Well, I say: “If the golden slipper fits, go ahead and wear it. ” Our Mrs. Khaki Pants is about to undergo a seismic life change, and you might want to ride in her golf cart.

Surprise In Store

Like so many women, KP has underestimated Hubby Khaki Pants. Little does she know, but Hubby intends to engage her in a sexy, neurobic trifecta. HKP has every base covered in our upcoming adventure.

Rumor has it that HKP is on his own myth-busting agenda, here at Anne of Carversville. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. He’s not the villain either

How can I write an effective story with only good guys? We have no one to blame this early in my story! This is a serious challenge in my narrative. We simply MUST have a bad guy, or we have no reader interest, no tension.

Wait, perhaps there is a solution to this boring-narrative possibility.

Per Mrs. Khaki Pants, we all thought HKP was watching Monday Night Football. Not true. In fact, Hubby was up to no good, about to create a little (erotic) tension of his own.

Update on Sat, October 16, 2010 by Anne

New research reported in Dr. Stephanie Ortigue’s brain scan study The Neuroimaging of Love confirms that the higher the level of NGF in our brains, the more intense is our relationship.

NGF (nerve growth factor) is responsible for dendrite growth. Science has given us another confirmation that neurobic six — or creative, not dull sex — makes for smart brains.

Smart, active brains promote longevity and reduce the risk of dementia as we age. Read on in Daily News.

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