Watching porn regularly could affect an important part of the brain and bring about some behavioral changes, a new study has found. Rachel Anne Barr, a neuroscience PhD student and researcher at Université Laval in Canada discovered a link between too much consumption of adult entertainment and poor decision-making.
In the study for The Conversation, Barr said watching porn can affect the prefrontal cortex of the brain. The prefrontal cortex , which is responsible for willpower, morality and impulse control, does not develop fully until a person steps into his adulthood. Thus, watching too much porn may rewire the brain to a juvenile state leading to compulsive behavior and poor decision-making.
Barr said in the study: "In my own lab, we study the neural wiring that underlies learning and memory processes. 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. Combined with the accessibility and anonymity of online porn consumption, we are more vulnerable than ever to its hyper-stimulating effects."
Another research led by a team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin claimed that too much of porn consumption can have a direct link with less brain activation in terms of conventional porn forms. In such cases, users tend to watch unconventional and violent forms of porn.
Porn addiction
The scientists have also observed that porn addiction may result in sexual dysfunction leading to problems in having erection or an orgasm with a real-life partner. The researchers have compared such addition to substance abuse as the brain responds to sexual stimulation with a sudden rush of dopamine.
Psychiatrist Norman Doidge said: "Pornography satisfies every one of the prerequisites for neuroplastic change. When pornographers boast that they are pushing the envelope by introducing new, harder themes, what they don't say is that they must, because their customers are building up a tolerance to the content."
This latest research is the first of its kind that has indicated neurological repercussions of porn addiction. In recent times, porn consumption has rapidly increased due to easy and cheap availability of internet across the globe. Last year, PornHub, the largest porn site, received over 33.5 billion site visits in just one year.
