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If you need an excuse to watch porn, here it is.

A study has claimed men with an X-rated video habit have better sex lives - busting myths about porn's effect on the brain.

Other theories have said watching porn disengages people from sex, and can make it harder for men to rise to the challenge in real life.

But scientists at the University of California said they could find no hint that men who dirtied their browser history suffered from greater erectile dysfunction.

In fact, they said, the men they studied had more arousal if they watched porn than if they kept their laptops untouched.

Researchers Nicole Prause and James Pfaus recruited 280 men and asked them to meticulously record their porn viewing hours per week.

The men - who were straight, white and mostly in their early 20s - were also asked to fill out questionnaires on their sexual desire and activity.

The scientists found arousal rose to its highest level for men who watched more than two hours of porn per week.

It also increased the amount the men wanted to be with their partners.

Those who watched no porn at all had an 'arousal score' of just over 40. But for those who watched porn, the score was more than 50.

"This pattern suggests that those who view more visual sexual stimuli (VSS) are likely to have a higher sexual drive," the scientists wrote in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

"Sexual arousal responsivity may not be impaired by viewing more VSS at home, as it actually was related to stronger desire and sexual arousal in two of the three relationships tested."

But there might be a more simple explanation, as sex psychologist Dr Justin Lehmiller pointed out.

He wrote of the study: "It could very well be that those men who watch the most porn just tend to have the highest sex drives."