Brain Damage Porn
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Brain Damage Porn
Browse: Home Rebooting/Porn Use FAQs Does porn addiction cause irreversible damage to the brain?
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It’s a common and erroneous belief that addiction equals “harm” to the brain, or that addiction is caused by “damage” to the brain. While certain addictive substances (meth, alcohol) can be neurotoxic, addiction is caused by a specific constellation of brain changes that are not necessarily classified as “brain damage”. Debunking the damage as addiction meme, nicotine (delivered via cigarettes) is considered by some to be the most addictive substance, yet nicotine is a brain enhancer and has other possible health benefits (“most addictive” means that a greater percentage of users eventually become addicts). See articles about nicotine’s possible benefits: Nicotine: An Unlikely Brain Enhancing Drug.
Addiction is primarily a disorder of learning & memory – in that many (but not all) addiction-caused brain changes employ the same mechanisms as involved in learning and memory: Addiction as a Learning Disorder . That said, brain changes such as desensitization or hypofrontality may involve changes not strictly under the umbrella of learning (loss of grey matter, lowered metabolism, decreased functional connectivity).
Addiction researchers agree that those who develop behavioral addictions experience brain changes similar to those with drug addictions. This doesn’t mean that every single cellular and biochemical alteration is exactly the same in everyone with an addiction. Instead, it means that all addictions share a few key brain abnormalities. Four major brain changes are involved with both drug and behavioral addictions, as outlined in this paper published this year in The New England Journal of Medicine : “ Neurobiologic Advances from the Brain Disease Model of Addiction (2016) “. This landmark review by the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) George F. Koob , and the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Nora D. Volkow , not only outlines the brain changes involved in addiction, it also suggests in its opening paragraph that sex addiction exists:
“We conclude that neuroscience continues to support the brain disease model of addiction. Neuroscience research in this area not only offers new opportunities for the prevention and treatment of substance addictions and related behavioral addictions (e.g., to food, sex , and gambling)….”
In simple, and very broad, terms the major fundamental addiction-caused brain changes are: 1) Sensitization , 2) Desensitization , 3) Dysfunctional prefrontal circuits (hypofrontality), 4) Dysfunctional stress circuits . All 4 of these brain changes have been identified among the 50 neuroscience-based studies on frequent porn users & sex addicts:
Are these the only brain changes? No. Each of these broad-brush indicators reflects multiple subtler addiction-related cellular and chemical alterations —just as the scan of a cancer tumor wouldn’t show associated subtler cellular/chemical changes. Most of the subtler changes can’t be assessed in human models due to the invasiveness of the technologies required. However, they have been identified in animal models (see this March, 2018 op-ed by the head of NIDA, Nora D. Volkow What Does It Mean When We Call Addiction a Brain Disorder? ).
Sensitization is believed to be the core brain change, as it makes you crave it, whatever “it” is, and involves nearly the same mechanisms as early sexual conditioning. Watch – Adolescent Brain Meets Highspeed Internet Porn (2013) , which is about sexual conditioning via internet porn during adolescence. In fact, the Cambridge university brain scan study (and 20 others in this list ) found sensitization (greater cue reactivity or cravings) in compulsive porn users.
That said, each drug uniquely affects physiology, and drugs may alter the brain in ways that behavioral addictions do not. In addition, drugs such as cocaine and meth raise dopamine far higher (at first) than levels attainable with natural rewards. It’s quite possible that drugs, due to their toxicity, can cause permanent damage to dopamine systems, which behavioral addictions do not.
That’s why it’s incorrect when websites or speakers state that Internet porn is just like meth or crack cocaine. Such analogies lead people to think that that porn use can cause damage just like meth use. For some, kicking porn addiction may be harder than kicking drug addiction, but this does not indicate it causes greater neurological damage. The difficulty in ending an addiction may simply correlate with the level of neuroplastic change caused by use.
Even more annoying are those who say that behavioral addictions cannot exist, or that they are “compulsions,” but not true addictions. Such statements have no scientific basis, since the same molecular switch triggers both behavioral and chemical addictions. The master switch that triggers addiction-related changes is the protein DeltaFosB . High levels of consumption of natural rewards ( sex , sugar , high-fat ) or chronic administration of virtually any drug of abuse cause DeltaFosB to accumulate in the reward center.
Addiction neuroplasticity can be summarized as: continued consumption → DeltaFosB → activation of genes → changes in synapses → sensitization and desensitization . (See The Addicted Brain for more detail.) It appears that addiction-related brain changes eventually lead to loss of executive control ( hypofrontality ) and an altered stress response, other major features of addiction.
DeltaFosB’s evolutionary purpose is to motivate us to “get it while the getting is good!” It’s a binge mechanism for food and reproduction , which worked well in other times and environments. These days it makes addictions to junk food and Internet porn as easy as 1-2-3.
Note that addictive drugs only cause addiction because they magnify or inhibit mechanisms already in place for natural rewards . This is why the American Society of Addiction Medicine unambiguously states that food and sex addictions are true addictions.
Sensitization of addiction pathways is one brain change that may persist in both drug and behavioral addictions. In simple terms, these pathways represent strong memories, which when triggered, crank up the reward circuitry, and thus cravings.
Will sensitization fade over time? Eric Nestler thinks so. He does a lot of research on the brain mechanisms of addiction. Here’s a Q&A from his website. He has particularly studied DeltaFosB, the protein and transcription factor (meaning it controls the activation of genes) mentioned above.
A. “There is no evidence that changes in the brain associated with drug addiction are permanent. Rather, we believe that these changes can be reversed, although this can take a long time, often many years and the reversal requires “unlearning” many of the bad habits (compulsions) associated with addiction.”
But the changes do generally linger for some unknown amount of time. It’s clear that DeltaFosB accumulates during above-normal levels of eating and sexual activity. We wonder if the positive changes that recovering porn users generally see at about 4-8 weeks may be related to declines in DeltaFosB.
From an article called “The Pleasure Principle” in Science magazine:
Nestler and his colleagues have found at least one molecule that appears to be specific for addiction, however. The protein, called [DELTA]-FosB, builds up in the reward pathway after repeated exposure to drugs and sticks around longer than other proteins–for as long as 4 to 6 weeks after the last dose. The protein increases an animal’s sensitivity to drugs and can also induce relapse if injected.
DeltaFosB also builds up in mice addicted to wheel running (a behavioral addiction closer to compulsive porn use).
The question is, “Does the accumulation of DeltaFosB cause changes in the genes —which hang around much longer than does DeltaFosB itself? Even ‘forever’ in some brains? If so, do these genetic changes occur primarily with drugs and not with exaggerated natural rewards like Internet porn?
Many serious drug addicts recover and eventually live life without cravings. However, if those same addicts were administered their drug of choice in circumstances they associate with its use, how many would binge, or perhaps become a practicing addict again? Who knows?
Clearly, addicts sometimes relapse after periods of abstinence. One opinion is that their brains are permanently sensitized (by DeltaFosB) to react to the addiction, and exposure reactivates these old pathways. Under this model, the brain has been permanently altered , but “damage” may be too strong a word. A former porn addict may be sensitized (likely to relapse) to porn or related cues and may need to stay away from porn. Indefinitely. But would you say his brain is damaged? No.
The following excerpt is from one of Nestler’s papers, and he suggests that DeltaFosB might someday be used as a bio-marker for the level of addiction and recovery.
If this hypothesis is correct, it raises the interesting possibility that levels of ΔFosB in nucleus accumbens or perhaps other brain regions could be used as a biomarker to assess the state of activation of an individual’s reward circuitry, as well as the degree to which an individual is ‘addicted’, both during the development of an addiction and its gradual waning during extended withdrawal or treatment. The use of ΔFosB as a marker of a state of addiction has been demonstrated in animal models. Adolescent animals show much greater induction of ΔFosB compared with older animals, consistent with their greater vulnerability for addiction.
Note that adolescents show much greater accumulation of DeltaFosB. (They also produce higher levels of dopamine.) Starting Internet porn at age 11-12 is perhaps a worst case scenario for our limbic brains.
“unregulated access and non-stop porn consumption can be a recipe for addictive behavior.Psychologist Stephen Sam… t.co/irx6V9hWpV
People don’t want to hear it, but porn damages the brain. When consuming pornography, it causes functioning in the frontal lobe to be knocked out. Watching porn also desensitizes the reward system in the mid brain.
This means that the brain will have trouble:
Along with the mental side effects, erectile dysfunction can also develop as a result of porn use.
While porn can create several issues mentally and physically, it can also harm those that people hold closest to them. It’s called a “silent tsunami of porn use.” This means that not only will porn have lasting effects on individuals that are addicted, but also on those individual’s loved ones as well. The addiction ripples out from the brain to all aspects of life.
Another aspect of life that porn can affect, is how the brain views partners or potential partners. It will start to make them unattractive and unappealing. Porn creates this distortive reality so that it trains the brain to only find porn desirable. This is what leads to addiction and what makes porn addiction hard to get out of.
It is time to get the control back when it comes to porn addiction. When the brain learns to not go back into the screen for unhealthy dopamine hits, it will, instead, learn to find dopamine in real life again. Find joy in real, everyday things including:
When the brain comes out of porn, life will become more meaningful, engaging, and positive.
Click here for information on how to quit porn and resources that can help.
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Published October 23, 2015 9:52pm EDT
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Sex on laptop computer. Pornography (iStock)
Say goodbye to the most famous bunnies in the world.
Playboy Magazine announced yesterday (Oct. 12) that it was revamping its design. Among its changes: No longer will naked ladies grace the pages of the magazine. (Of course, you only read it for the articles anyway, right?)
"Playboy's great success was that it legitimized sexualized images in the context of good fiction, interesting articles and groundbreaking interviews," Kim Wallen, a psychologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote in an email to Live Science. "Still, it would not have been able to sell these often-excellent features without including nude women, which was the reason a majority of men bought Playboy."
But ultimately, even the nude pictures weren't enough to hold readers. The magazine, which first exploded into public consciousness when it published nude shots of Marilyn Monroe in 1953, has been losing readers for years, according the Alliance for Audited Media., largely thanks to the rise of Internet pornography . With the click of a button, a smorgasbord of sexual options, from the violent and disturbing to the frankly weird, are instantly available. [ Hot Stuff! 10 Unusual Sexual Fixations ]
Yet porn has effects beyond siphoning readers from the lad mag of a bygone era. It may also be changing people in myriad subtle ways. Scientists don't fully understand how pornography affects people, but a few studies have revealed surprising — and disturbing — trends. From shrinking the brain to sabotaging relationships, here are five ways pornography affects the brain.
Along with eating, drinking and sleeping, sex is one of the most fundamental human drives. That means it activates ancient parts of the brain such as the limbic system, which also controls basic emotions such as fear and anger, said Joseph J. Plaud, a private, clinical forensic psychologist in Boston, Massachusetts, who has studied the effects of pornography.
When people look at sexual imagery, dopamine floods these brain regions, causing an intense feeling of pleasure. Over time, people come to associate those direct images (called reinforcers) with the pleasurable feelings. Anything associated with those images, including Playboy's trademark bunny image, could also prime people to seek out that positive rush. [ 6 (Other) Great Things Sex Can Do for You ]
However, if that pleasure response gets triggered over and over — with frequent doses of Playboy or other sexually charged imagery — a person will need bigger hits to feel a response, Plaud said.
"The more you do and the greater degree of access, the more explicit [it is], you seem to need more and more," Plaud told Live Science.
Porn may also literally shrink the brain , a 2014 study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found. Men who regularly consumed porn had smaller brain volume and fewer connections in the striatum, a brain region tied to reward processing, compared with those who didn't view porn.
However, it's possible this brain region shrinks simply because people become accustomed to viewing pornographic images, and thus find them less rewarding, one researcher previously told Live Science.
Additionally, the same brain regions are smaller in people who are depressed or suffer from alcoholism, and those people are less likely to be in relationships or have busy lives. So it may simply be that people who are depressed are more likely to view pornography, not that porn literally shrinks the brain, the researcher speculated.
Watching porn also seems to quiet a part of the brain that processes visual imagery , researchers reported in 2012 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. It's not clear why this happens, but researchers speculated that the brain diverts blood flow from the visual cortex in order to focus on more pressing things, like being turned on.
The finding makes sense, in that people looking at pornography would be focusing on the sexually explicit image more than the fine details of the background of the image, the researchers speculated. A person who was scanning the horizon for potential threats would have trouble being aroused.
On the flip side, getting aroused requires feeling safe, and freedom from the need to look out for potential dangers, the researchers said.
Watching porn may also make people value immediate payoffs over delayed gratification, a study published in September in the Journal of Sex Research found.
Compared with people who abstained from eating their favorite food, people who were asked to abstain from porn for three weeks showed a lower rate of "delay discounting," meaning they were willing to wait longer for a reward. (Delay discounting refers to the phenomenon in which a reward becomes less valuable the longer one has to wait to receive it.)
So simply avoiding porn can put people into a more long-term mind-set, the researchers found.
Is pornography use an unhealthy addiction that ruins men for relationships, or a healthy sexual outlet that both men and women enjoy? How people answer may affect whether they are harmed by porn. A study in the September issue of the journal Psychology of Addictive Behavior found that it was the perception of being "addicted to porn," rather than the intensity of porn use per se, that was tied with psychological distress.
And contrary to the notion that pornography fuels misogyny , men who viewed porn tended to hold more egalitarian views about women than did non-porn-using men. Frequent porn users view powerful women, working women and women who have had abortions more favorably than do other men, a study published in August in the Journal of Sex Research found.
That may be the case, but women in relationships with porn spectators reported being less happy in those relationships than gals paired up with men who didn't view pornography, found research published in 2012 in the journal Sex Roles.
Even though scientists are beginning to tease out the effects of porn on the brain, there's still a lot they don't understand, in particular about the long-term effect porn has on young viewers, Plaud said.
"We're being flooded by an immense amount of very hard-core pornography, and it's a question [what effect it has]," Plaud said. "I think it may have very large implications in the future."
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