It is now recognised in
neuroscience that the brain is malleable. It changes with our experience and
forms pathways and connections that correlate with what we watch, listen to, and
learn. From the active engagement in a philosophical discussion in class to the
learning of directions in the new city you moved into, even the seemingly
passive sitting down to listen to music or watch television results in a
constant formation of new connections in the brain that eventually make us who
we are as individuals. A huge problem, albeit a silent one, that has reached
epidemic proportions is the viewing of pornography, which affects men more so
than it does women.
The great majority of articles on the problematic nature of this subject
typically speak about it from a psychological and/or social perspective. This
article, however, will shed light on the effects of viewing pornography from a
neuroscience perspective. The current model explaining how we learn and remember
things at the brain level uses synaptic plasticity as the basis. Synaptic
plasticity is the ability of the brain to change the strength in connections
between the neurons (brain cells) in response to experience. This involves
changing the amount and types of receptors expressed, as well as the amount of
neurotransmitters (communication molecules) being released.
A vital neurotransmitter in the brain is dopamine. It has many important roles
that it serves in functions such as voluntary movement, motivation, reward,
punishment, and learning. Dopamine has been implicated in children with ADHD,
cognitive decline due to ageing, and depression. Most of the public’s knowledge
about dopamine is about famous individuals with Parkinson’s disease such as
Muhammad Ali and Michael J Fox, who have dopamine dysfunction pathology.
A vital role of dopamine is in pleasure experience, reward, and learning. Drugs
such as cocaine target the dopaminergic system to release great amounts of
dopamine which results in experiencing a “high” and often leading to addiction.
A number of studies have implicated dopamine in either the anticipation or the
direct experience of pleasure. Depending on the brain area, dopamine can be
released either prior to or during the moments of heightened pleasure.
When released, dopamine strengthens and reinforces the new connections that are
being made in the brain while an activity is undertaken. This in turn acts to
encourage the individual to repeat the activity again so they can feel that
pleasure once more.
How is this relevant to pornography? As the images are displayed on the screen,
an arousal takes place and the dopaminergic system is triggered just like it
would be by drugs such as cocaine. The newly formed connections in the brain
from watching pornographic images become greatly reinforced by the massive
amounts of dopamine being released. Rather than going into short term memory,
where these images can be forgotten after the screen is turned off, the dopamine
reinforcement ensures they are moved into the long-term memory stores where they
can be stuck in replay mode in the person’s mind. The troublesome fact about
this is that the more something is recalled, the more it solidifies in the
brain. Think back to your school days when you studied for an exam – you
repeated the statements you needed to memorise over and over until they stuck.
Pornography is fantasy. Different scenes present with different women give the
illusion of the watcher having a relationship with a new person every time.
These “stars” subject themselves to different demeaning sexual practices by the
men in the scenes. The acts in their totality are detestable to most mentally
healthy people. However, the design of the act in a pornographic scene is to
link one or two normally arousing and familiar elements with others that are
not. This is how the viewer acquires new tastes in sexual practice.
Electromagnetic waves are emitted from the screen with a fantasy that triggers a
chemical reaction in the brain, releasing dopamine. The result is a feeling of a
real, yet delusional, state of pleasure and satisfaction. The dopamine
reinforces the new connections with newly acquired sexual tastes, and the next
thing taking place is the man asking his wife to engage in a sexual fantasy that
was downloaded into his subconscious.
The sequence of events in the brain is quite disturbingly simple. Synaptic
plasticity works to form new connections as a result of watching pornography,
and newly learned memories are stored. Since the experience is an arousing one,
dopamine release results in very strong reinforcement of those new connections.
Now that the scenes are in long-term memory, two consequences take place: 1)
since the very same system stimulated by cocaine is being triggered by
pornography, addiction is developed; and 2) the man will often attempt to create
his own re-enactments with his wife, which leads to a great disappointment.
The re-enactments do not live up to expectations because instead of many
different women, it’s now only one.
Worse still, this only one woman doesn’t sound, act, or look the same as the
ones downloaded into his mind. Although the first couple of re-enactments might
be exciting, soon reality will strike and dopamine will no longer be released
because pleasure is no longer derived.
Sadly, that is not the end of it. After such a disappointment in the actual
experience due to the unrealistic fantasy-based expectations, the brain not only
refrains from releasing dopamine; it actually dips below baseline levels. It
goes into a depression response that results in disappointment, dissatisfaction,
and unhappiness in the marriage since the wife is “not up to what he expected.”
Despite the efforts by many women to “spice things up” and even subject
themselves to the demeaning acts that have been artificially downloaded into
their husbands’ brains, the pornography-addicted husbands will only enjoy
themselves for a very short while before losing interest. Meanwhile, the wife
feels unattractive and emotionally abandoned despite her best efforts, not
knowing that she cannot compete with the dopamine buzz offered by pornography.
What is alarming about this information is that the brain acts as a whole
entity; its plasticity is global. Change in one area affects other regions. It
is a literal rewiring of overall neural connections as a result of pornography
viewing. The extent of influence on other parts of the brain and cognition is an
area of research requiring attention.
While neuroscience paints a very disturbing picture for those affected by
watching pornography, it is not all bad news. Although the same system for
cocaine addiction is targeted by it, the substance is not the same. A cocaine
addict must go through a regimented program to detoxify his system, otherwise he
will be placing his life at risk. On the other hand, many men that have learned
about the real stark effects of watching pornography are able to quit
immediately without experiencing negative physiological consequences. It does
take a lot of willpower and requires the person to busy themselves with other
activities. Initially, tormenting replays of pornographic scenes watched over
the past months or years will test the person’s drive and strength to give it
up. Luckily, the same brain that went through a rewiring due to viewing
pornography can also be rewired again. It is an extremely efficient organ that
gets rid of unused connections. The longer a person can go without
re-stimulating his pornographic connections, the more likely he makes it for his
brain to discard them. Engaging in new experiences and occupying the brain with
other ‘PG-rated’ matters will be bound to force it to prune others away. It just
needs time to do its work and it needs to be given the choice; it will always
choose what the person activates more often.