Men Relax When They Look at Sexy Photos

There's new research from Carnegie Mellon University that finds looking at sexy photos may help men relax. Researchers measured men's stress levels before and after showing them some semi-erotic images. They found that the men's indicators of stress dropped by half compared with men who viewed nonsexual images.

Men who viewed the sexy images performed almost 50-percent better on the math portion of a stress test.

Researcher Dr. J. David Creswell says the drop in stress happens because when a man views sexy images it awakens the brain's reward pathways which in turn helps to limit the release of cortisol, the stress hormone.

Researchers say men could benefit by looking at erotica at the beginning of the day before they become stressed.

[Mens Health]