19 / 80
christian counseling today
VOL. 22 NO. 1
19
a
brain. He notes how addictions cause a down
regulating of dopamine receptors in the nucleus
accumbens structure of the brain (where reward
and pleasure are processed) as being similar in
sexual addictions and drug addiction, giving
credence to the neural basis for all addictions.
3
Rather than providing relief for sexual tension,
pornography can deliver addiction, tolerance,
and eventual decrease in pleasure.
In all addictions, the core structures of the
brain include the nucleus accumbens (NAc), ven-
tral tegmental area (VTA), and parts of the cere-
bral cortex. The VTA, located in the midbrain,
extends axons to the NAc. It is in the VTA that
dopaminergic neurons are housed. These neu-
rons communicate as to whether or not a stimu-
lus is rewarding or aversive. The release of dopa-
mine in the VTA-NAc circuit facilitates reward
seeking. When this system is activated, it tells the
person to repeat what just happened in order to
get that reward. Even cues about a substance can
mobilize brain centers to begin pleasure experi-
ences through this pathway. These cues result
from a process of sensitization that takes place.
The mesolimbic dopamine pathway also
connects with the larger reward pathway that
includes the amygdala (positive and negative
emotions), hippocampus (memory), and frontal
cortex (judgment). The anterior cingulate cortex
(ACC), along with the orbital frontal cortex,
navigates reward and consequence expectations.
Characteristic of both substance and pornog-
raphy use is the hypoactivity (lowering) of the
ACC that is responsible for moral and ethical
decision making and willpower.
Also, due to the release of the hormones,
oxytocin and vasopressin, during the porn
experience, the person bonds to the pornographic
experience. The brain remembers where this
sexual reward was experienced. The surging
of dopamine from viewing porn eventually
subsides, leaving the person wanting more. More
novel and intense pornography is then needed to
achieve the same excitement as before.
Other, more recent, studies have supported
this neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to
reorganize itself) and pornography as sexual
addiction.
4
In fact, the Director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Dr. Nora
Volkow, supports the inclusion of sexual
addictions with its contributor of pornography
to the larger field of addictions.
Volkow and her colleagues describe a three-stage model of
neurobiochemical addiction. The three stages include: 1) binge/
intoxication, 2) withdrawal/negative affect, and 3) preoccupation/
anticipation.
5
This process includes a flood of dopamine in the NAc.
Thus, the behavior that leads to this flooding is reinforced, learning takes
place, and neuroplasticity occurs. Tolerance builds through an increase in
dynorphin levels that decrease the dopaminergic function of the reward
system. In other words, more stimulation is needed to get the rush.
Due to stress, the amygdala is signaled and a decreased sensitivity to
rewards takes place. To avoid negative affect and withdrawal, the person
engages in more behavior (negative reinforcement). Addictive behavior is
reinforced. Impulsivity becomes compulsivity. In fact, a 2013 study at the
University of Leicester, UK, lends support to the idea that pornography use
may be more compulsive than addictive. In that study, researchers found
that certain traits making people more vulnerable to compulsivity were
correlated with pornography use.
6
In his book,
The Brain That Changes Itself
, Dr. Norman Doidge,
psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, also discusses how viewing pornography
results in the continued release of dopamine into the reward system
stimulating neuroplastic changes that then reinforce the experience. As
noted, these changes result in brain maps for sexual excitement. The more
these pathways are used, the more they dominate mental space. These
newly established brain maps create tolerance for “normal” sexuality,