Couples lacking intimacy in their relationship might have to look no further for an easy solution to their problems.
A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan found that simply getting an hour more of sleep every night - in the case of women - can increase the next day's possibility of sex by 14 percent.
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory found that women who get an additional hour of sleep at night not only had more sex, but also better sex. Women who had gotten an average of sleep above the seven-hour mark had more energy, better concentration and greater sexual desire the following day.
"If there's anything women or their partners can do to help promote good sleep for one another, whether it's helping out around the house to reduce workload, planning romantic getaways, or just practicing good sleep hygiene, it could help protect against having problems in the bedroom," the study's author David Kalmbach told CBS.
The study evaluated 171 female participants were selected form a university setting. After completing baseline measures in a laboratory, they then completed online surveys at their habitual wake time for two weeks. They were asked to answer questions about how much sleep they had, sleep quality, levels of arousal and whether they had engaged in sexual activity within the previous 24 hours.
Questions included: "Did you have sex with another person within the past 24 hours?" and "Did you masturbate within the past 24 hours?" Regarding sleep quality, they were asked after getting up at their habitual time, "How many hours of sleep did you get last night?" and "How long did it take you to fall asleep last night?" They were also asked to rate their quality of sleep.
The researchers also found that the sexual intent of women was rated significantly lower than that of men when both are well-rested. After a night of deprived sleep, however, men's rating of women's sexual intent increased to the point that women were no longer perceived as having lower sexual intent than men.
"Our study showed that good sleep is important for healthy sexual desire and arousal in women, even when women are mentally and medically healthy," Kalmbach told WebMD.
He also pointed out that the increase in sexual desire is not simply due to changes in mood since the study also controlled for women's levels of depression and anxiety.
