Understanding Pornography: Interventions for Compulsive Users
(An ITTI Training Program)
Module 2: Neuroscience of Pornography
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Mesolimbic System: Pleasure/Reward Pathways Impacted by Pornography
Addiction occurs when pleasure/reward pathways are hijacked by exogenous drugs such as cocaine or opioids, or by natural processes essential and inherent to survival such as food and sex in the mesolimbic reward centers of the brain.
The pleasure/reward pathways and the other limbic regions mediate, at least in part, the acute positive emotional effects of natural rewards, such as food, sex and social interactions. These same regions have also been implicated in the so-called ‘natural addictions’ (that is, compulsive consumption for natural rewards) such as pathological overeating, pathological gambling, and sexual addictions. Preliminary findings suggest that shared pathways may be involved: (an example is) cross sensitization that occurs between natural rewards and drugs of abuse (Hilton & Watts, 2011).
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Ventral Striatal Reward Pathway
This circuit starts and ends in the brainstem with the release of dopamine. Activating these “reward cells” with stimulation (e.g., pornography, sex, drugs, food, etc., causes them to transmit dopamine to other regions in the cortex and subcortex such as the striatum. This reinforces the drive for future reward seeking behaviors.
These signals converge to a set of cells in the nucleus accumbens, which is essential for determining the motivational significance of the reward stimulus, causing the person to think, “Mmmmm that was fun; I’ll do that again.”
In cases of extreme compulsive pornography use, simply showing still pictures to the compulsive pornography user will engage this reward circuit. The same is true for people addicted to eating: showing them pictures of food can reengage the same (Hilton & Watts, 2011).
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Impact of Pornography Use on Brain Matter
In 2014 the first-ever brain-scan study of online porn users, was conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, researchers found that the hours and years of porn use were correlated with decreased grey matter in regions of the brain associated with reward sensitivity, as well as reduced responsiveness to erotic still photos with:
- Significant negative association between reported pornography hours per week & gray matter volume in the right caudate
- Reduced functional activity during a sexual cue–reactivity paradigm in the left putamen
- Functional connectivity of the right caudate to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was negatively associated with hours of pornography consumption
- The negative association of self-reported pornography consumption with the right striatum (caudate) volume, left striatum (putamen) activation during cue reactivity, and lower functional connectivity of the right caudate to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex could reflect change in neural plasticity as a consequence of an intense stimulation of the reward system, together with a lower top-down modulation of prefrontal cortical areas. Alternatively, it could be a precondition that makes pornography consumption more rewarding (Kuhn & Gallinat, 2014)
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The Brain’s Neurochemicals Impacted by Compulsive Pornography Use
A Summary from Covenant Eye’s: The Porn Circuit: Understand Your Brain and Break Porn Habits in 90 Days by Sam Black, 2013.
1. Dopamine:
Focuses one’s attention on whatever task is at hand
Motivates person forward
Activates or enhances rewards circuitry that makes one feel good
Plays a major role in memory
Helps people recall what is important in environment & remember appropriate response to the stimulus
Fuels the tension & craving for meeting a need
Is released in response to all drugs of addiction & plays a role in many disorders affecting motivation & attention such as obsessive-compulsive disorder & behavioral addictions.
Helps brain remember what is interesting & how to respond to it.
Focuses the mind on a specific task while other concerns are ignored
Provides a neurological reward that feels good & assists in cravings for more of the activity.
2. DeltaFosB
Has been implicated as a critical factor in the development of virtually all forms of behavioral & drug addictions
In the nucleus accumbens, DeltaFosB functions as a "sustained molecular switch" & "master control protein" in the development of an addiction
Once "turned on" (sufficiently overexpressed) DeltaFosB triggers a series of events that ultimately produce an addictive state (i.e., compulsive reward-seeking involving a particular stimulus)
This state is sustained for months after cessation of drug of choice use (including pornography) due to the abnormal & exceptionally long half-life of DeltaFosB
DeltaFosB in the nucleus accumbens medium spiny neurons directly & positively regulates drug self-administration & reward sensitization through positive reinforcement while decreasing sensitivity to aversion.
3. Norepinephrine
A neurotransmitter often associated with stress & the fight-or-flight response, helping people to be more alert
Acts as a hormone for sexual arousal & sexual memory
Helps people burn emotional experiences in their minds
Whether it’s a wonderful sexual experience with one’s spouse or a provocative sexual image, the information is stored for easy recall with the help of norepinephrine.
4. Oxytocin
Often referred to as the bonding hormone because big releases arrive when mothers & fathers hold their newborn babies
Often called the cuddle hormone because oxytocin levels rise when a couple snuggles, hold hands, or express other forms of intimacy
Is one reason a kiss is so powerful
Plays a big role in sexual bonding to one’s partner and triggers the contractions during male orgasm
It is for this reason that married couples are encouraged to enjoy face-to-face sex that provides as much skin contact as possible for the greatest release of the bonding chemical
Because oxytocin is also released in climax, it can have a negative impact for the porn user: Instead of bonding to a real mate, the porn viewer’s brain bonds to the image, video, or situation, especially when the activity is reinforced through repetition
5. Vasopressin
Working in concert with oxytocin, encourages the feelings of bonding and is slowly released during sexual activity and at climax
The release of vasopressin during porn viewing and masturbation works to cement a person’s attachment to this behavior
6. Endogenous Opiates
People were designed to have an amazing sexual experience. The body produces natural or endogenous opiates, which during climax provide pain relief and a sense of transcendence and euphoria-It is for this reason that many say Pornography Addiction is PMO: Pornography leads to Masturbation which leads to Organism which produces these addictive endogenous opioids
This is an opium-like substance, naturally produced by the body
7. Serotonin
Serotonin is released after climax and brings feelings of calm, wellbeing, and satisfaction.
High serotonin levels also decrease sexual motivation: These factors help explain why men are often accused of being ready for a nap after sex
8. Testosterone
Often cited as the male hormone (although women have it in lesser amounts), testosterone dramatically increases sexual arousal and desire
Is released in men throughout the day, but when sexual cues are picked up by the brain the testes increase production
Pornography (and the mental fantasizing that it enables) crafts a brain that constantly generates testosterone and heightens sexual desire. With this ever-present sexual desire, the brain is ready to interpret any signal (external or internal) and ramp up the perceived need for sexual activity.
Men with strong feelings of commitment to their spouse tend to have lower testosterone levels. This may be a reason why these men may be less likely to commit adultery.
Because testosterone is slow to dissipate, men who habitually view pornography cause their own chemical imbalance.
This high testosterone level increases their sexual awareness far above normal
Sexual fantasies are sparked by everyday objects & even modestly dressed women are seen as provocative.
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The Processes involved in the Neuroplasticity of the Brain
A Summary from Covenant Eye’s, The Porn Circuit: Understand Your Brain and Break Porn Habits in 90 Days by Sam Black, 2013
1. Sensitization
A person who uses a pornographic image or story and masturbates for the first time begins a learning process of how to respond to porn in the future
With repetition the brain responds not only to the initial stimulus, but also to related stimuli.
After a person becomes sensitized, very little is needed to trigger a response
A superhighway is connected to the rewards circuitry
This superhighway has many entrance ramps
Sexual cues are seen everywhere, and sexual fantasizing comes easy.
2. Triggers:
Cigarette smokers can name a list of activities that spark a physical & mental desire for a smoke: drinking a cup of coffee, finishing a meal, sipping alcohol. These cues are called triggers & when presented the brain gets a shot of dopamine that motivates a person to smoke, ingest nicotine & fire the rewards circuitry of the brain
Triggers also surface for porn & masturbation & these sensitization cues can vary greatly from person to person depending on their gender, marital status, & types of porn & activities they use:
- Simply being home alone is enough to prompt many people to rush to their computer in search of porn
- Some people lie awake at night, taunted with thoughts of getting up to view porn online & masturbate while the family sleeps. Why? Because they hold not only memories of using the computer for porn, but also of opportunities of secrecy & even of getting up or staying up for a late-night fix.
These compulsive feelings are engrained from repetitive & powerful experiences: Dopamine flows easily in response to the learned pornographic trigger driving a person to act out & the sensitized neural pathway leads easily to the rewards circuitry where opiates fire.
3. Desensitization
Though not true for everyone, many porn users find they need a greater amount or more intense porn to activate a state of arousal
Their brains had decided after multiple porn excursions that this amount of dopamine is excessive. So, it had reduced the amount of dopamine in response to porn, and it had reduced the number of dopamine receptors for the neural circuits associated with porn use.
To escape this desensitization, people & men especially, expand their pornographic tastes to more novel stimuli: What was once considered hardcore — a heterosexual couple engaged in intercourse — is now considered mundane, and varied forms of sex mixed with force, violence, and humiliation are now fused into today’s pornographic scripts
4. Hypofrontality:
Compulsiveness is a good descriptor of hypofrontality
Many porn users feel focused on getting to porn and masturbating even when a big part of them is saying, “Don’t do this”
Even when negative consequences seem imminent, impulse control is too weak to battle the cravings.
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Summary of Neuroplasticity Processes
When a man sees his partner or pornography and is sexually stimulated, including imagination, his arousal is increased & his thoughts are focused through dopamine, testosterone & norepinephrine.
If sex or self-sex is pursued, these chemicals further focus his brain’s attention & narrow his thoughts on the sexual experience
These and other chemicals are also active in women during arousal, but in addition, perceptions, feelings, lengthy memories & cognitive choices play a larger role
During sex or masturbation, people get the sexual version of tunnel vision as more of these initial chemicals are combined with the slow release of oxytocin and vasopressin
worries & concerns often fall away & the mind focuses on sexual release
The contractions of orgasm are connected to the brain’s release of endogenous opiates
These opiates & dopamine shut off the portions of the brain responsible for anxiety, adding to the euphoria & the removal of fear
Then the brain receives serotonin, adding feelings of wellbeing & satisfaction
All of those hormones and neurotransmitters are actually interacting with the physical brain & its neural connections. (Black, 2013)
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References
Black, S. (2013). The porn circuit: Understand your brain and break the porn habits in 90 days. Owosso, MI: Covenant Eyes, Inc.
Hilton, D.L. & Watts, C. (2011). Pornography addiction: A neuroscience perspective. Surgical Neurology International, 2, 19.
Kühn, S. & Gallinat, J. (2014). Brain structure and functional connectivity associated with pornography consumption: The brain on porn. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(7), 827-834. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.93
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