[Note: The following contains a frank, though non-graphic, discussion
of pornography addiction. Parents are therefore cautioned to examine
the material themselves before sharing it with children or teenagers.]
"Because the human brain is the biological anchor of our
psychological experience, it is helpful to understand how it operates."
says William M. Struthers, associate professor of psychology at Wheaton
College. "Knowing how it is wired together and where it is sensitive can
help us understand why pornography affects people the way it does."
Here are 9 things you should know about pornography affects the brain.
1. Sexually explicit material triggers mirror neurons in the male
brain. These neurons, which are involved with the process for how to
mimic a behavior, contain a motor system that correlates to the planning
out of a behavior. In the case of pornography, this mirror neuron
system triggers the arousal, which leads to sexual tension and a need
for an outlet. "The unfortunate reality is that when he acts out (often
by masturbating), this leads to hormonal and neurological consequences,
which are designed to bind him to the object he is focusing on," says
Struthers. "In God's plan, this would be his wife, but for many men it
is an image on a screen. Pornography thus enslaves the viewer to an
image, hijacking the biological response intended to bond a man to his
wife and therefore inevitably loosening that bond."
2. In men, there are five primary chemicals involved in sexual
arousal and response. The one that likely plays the most significant
role in pornography addiction is dopamine. Dopamine plays a major role
in the brain system that is responsible for reward-driven learning.
Every type of reward that has been studied increases the level of
dopamine transmission in the brain, and a variety of addictive drugs,
including stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine,
act directly on the dopamine system. Dopamine surges when a person is
exposed to novel stimuli, particularly if it is sexual, or when a
stimuli is more arousing than anticipated. Because erotic imagery
triggers more dopamine than sex with a familiar partner, exposure to
pornography leads to "arousal addiction" and teaches the brain to prefer
the image and become less satisfied with real-life sexual partners.
3. Why do men seek out a variety of new explicit sexual images rather
than being satisfied with the same ones? The reason is attributed to
the Coolidge effect, a phenomenon seen in mammalian species whereby
males (and to a lesser extent females) exhibit renewed sexual interest
if introduced to new receptive sexual partners, even after refusing sex
from prior but still available sexual partners. This neurological
mechanism is one of the primary reasons for the abundance and
addictiveness of Internet pornography.
4. Overstimulation of the reward circuitry—such as occurs with
repeated dopamine spikes related to viewing pornography—creates
desensitization. As Gary Wilson explains, "When dopamine receptors drop
after too much stimulation, the brain doesn't respond as much, and we
feel less reward from pleasure. That drives us to search even harder for
feelings of satisfaction—for example, by seeking out more extreme
sexual stimuli, longer porn sessions, or more frequent porn viewing—thus
further numbing the brain.
5. "The psychological, behavioral, and emotional habits that form our
sexual character will be based on the decisions we make," says
Struthers. "Whenever the sequence of arousal and response is activated,
it forms a neurological memory that will influence future processing and
response to sexual cues. As this pathway becomes activated and
traveled, it becomes a preferred route—a mental journey—that is
regularly trod. The consequences of this are far-reaching."
6. What makes Internet porn unique? Wilson identifies a number of
reasons, including: (1) Internet porn offers extreme novelty; (2) Unlike
food and drugs, there are almost no physical limitations to Internet
porn consumption; (3) With Internet porn one can escalate both with more
novel "partners" and by viewing new and unusual genres; (4) Unlike
drugs and food, Internet porn doesn't eventually activate the brain's
natural aversion system; and (5) The age users start watching porn. A
teen's brain is at its peak of dopamine production and neuroplasticity,
making it highly vulnerable to addiction and rewiring.
7. Men's exposure to sexually explicit material is correlated with
social anxiety, depression, low motivation, erectile dysfunction,
concentration problems, and negative self-perceptions in terms of
physical appearance and sexual functioning.
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