A Study has found that there are several changes to the brain that occur when the user watches internet pornography on a somewhat regular basis. All of the people in the study are considered moderate pornography users and are not classified as addicted.
To begin with, the more pornography the people studied watched, the less gray matter existed in the striatum. The striatum is a complex set of structures that include the reward center and the dorsal striatum. Less gray matter essentially means that there were fewer nerve connections in reward-related areas. Less gray matter in the striatum basically means less reward activity and a decline in dopamine signaling. Basically, the more porn you watch, the more your brain’s reward system is worn out.
Another finding was that the connection between the striatum and the prefrontal cortex worsened, the more pornography is watched. This could indicate a weakening of impulse controls.
So basically, what they think they’ve found out through this study is that porn addiction is not necessarily a signal of a high sexual drive. The problem is that heavy porn users have less of a response to sexual images, exhibiting less sexual desire.
This study is consistent with 60 recent brain studies done on internet and video game addiction.
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