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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/02/porn-less-gray-matter-brain_n_5418607.html
German researchers recruited 64 men between the ages of 21 and 45 who watched an average of four hours of pornography per week. The researchers did MRI scans of men’s brains while showing them a mixture of sexually explicit images and non-sexual imagery.
"Our findings indicated that gray matter volume of the right caudate of the striatum is smaller with higher pornography use," the researchers wrote in the journal article, referring to an area of the brain associated with reward processing and motivation. Men who watched more porn also showed less activity in another area of the striatum, called the left putamen, which usually lights up in response to sexual images.
Heavy porn consumers also had a weaker connection between the striatum and the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with decision-making.
"Dysfunction of this circuitry has been related to inappropriate behavioral choices, such as drug seeking, regardless of the potential negative outcome," the researchers wrote in the article.
German researchers recruited 64 men between the ages of 21 and 45 who watched an average of four hours of pornography per week. The researchers did MRI scans of men’s brains while showing them a mixture of sexually explicit images and non-sexual imagery.
"Our findings indicated that gray matter volume of the right caudate of the striatum is smaller with higher pornography use," the researchers wrote in the journal article, referring to an area of the brain associated with reward processing and motivation. Men who watched more porn also showed less activity in another area of the striatum, called the left putamen, which usually lights up in response to sexual images.
Heavy porn consumers also had a weaker connection between the striatum and the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with decision-making.
"Dysfunction of this circuitry has been related to inappropriate behavioral choices, such as drug seeking, regardless of the potential negative outcome," the researchers wrote in the article.
