It is news that should excite geeks - new research suggests maths can boost people's sex lives, even into their 80s.

Researchers at the International Longevity Centre UK found a link between the ability to perform mathematical tasks in later life and the likelihood of having sex.

Pensioners who can give the correct answer to a handful of moderately easy sums are twice as likely to be sexually active than those who struggled with the task.

Brancati noticed that 41 per cent of those who got one or none of the questions right had had sexual activity in the previous year compared with 79 per cent of those who answered four correctly.

Almost half (49 per cent) of those in their 70s who got the questions right had been sexually active in the recent past compared with only 28 per cent of those who struggled.