Watching porn erodes an important region of the brain, rewiring it into a juvenile state, a researcher warns.
Rachel Anne Barr, a neuroscience PhD student and researcher at Canada’s Université Laval, says studies show people who regularly watch adult entertainment often develop damage to the prefrontal cortex, the brain region that controls morality, willpower and impulse control.
That brain region is, crucially, one that does not fully develop until adulthood.
Barr warns the research suggests porn could cause users to struggle with their emotions and impulses, possibly leading to compulsive behavior and poor decisions.
‘It’s somewhat paradoxical that adult entertainment may revert our brain wiring to a more juvenile state,’ Barr wrote in an article about her research for The Conversation.
‘The much greater irony is that while porn promises to satisfy and provide sexual gratification, it delivers the opposite.’
Porn appears to erode key regions of the brain and could impact impulse control, a scientist says
Kinks, fetishes, and pornographic imagery have always existed.
But with the internet, live-action porn became available on demand. And the demand is insatiable, with 33.5 billion hits on Pornhub, the biggest free porn site, in 2018.
The thirst for increasingly vivid sex scenes within seconds is so strong that it has, in fact, been a major driver behind technological advances.
‘The porn industry has blazed a commercial path that other industries are hastening to follow,’ says Frederick Lane, author of Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age.
It is an unprecedented commercial success, tapping into something universal and carnal.
But, Barr warns: ‘Science is only just beginning to reveal the neurological repercussions of porn consumption.’
‘It is already clear that the mental health and sex lives of its widespread audience are suffering catastrophic effects,’ Barr says.
‘From depression to erectile dysfunction, porn appears to be hijacking our neural wiring with dire consequences.’
Barr, who researches learning and memory, says her team has observed porn’s powerful impact on neural wiring, which can affect human behavior.
‘The properties of video porn make it a particularly powerful trigger for plasticity, the brain’s ability to change and adapt as a result of experience,’ Barr says.
‘Combined with the accessibility and anonymity of online porn consumption, we are more vulnerable than ever to its hyper-stimulating effects.
‘In the long term, pornography seems to create sexual dysfunctions, especially the inability to achieve erection or orgasm with a real life partner.
‘Marital quality and commitment to one’s romantic partner also appear to be compromised.’
But how?
Barr says it can be likened to drug-taking: when a person uses cocaine, their brains give off a rush of dopamine, the ‘feel-good’ hormone.
The same happens with sex and arousal.
But beyond simply dealing with excitement, that same neurotransmitter also controls memories.
Overusing that neurotransmitter can wear down your natural reflexes and habits, leaving the body unsure how to satisfy its needs.
Drug users, for example, can lose appetite, turning to more drugs.
Porn users, Barr says, may start to see porn as a quick fix for their sexual needs, rather than a person.
‘The desensitization of our reward circuitry sets the stage for sexual dysfunctions to develop, but the repercussions don’t end there,’ Barr says.
‘Studies show that changes in the transmission of dopamine can facilitate depression and anxiety.
‘In agreement with this observation, porn consumers report greater depressive symptoms, lower quality of life and poorer mental health compared to those who don’t watch porn.’
Barr adds: ‘The other compelling finding in this study is that compulsive porn consumers find themselves wanting and needing more porn, even though they don’t necessarily like it.
‘This disconnect between wanting and liking is a hallmark feature of reward circuitry dysregulation.’