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| Brain Coral |
It is
now recognized 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 aging, 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 for 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,” 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’re 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 it in the
brain. Think back to your school days when you studied for an exam – you
repeated the statements you needed to memorize 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 yet, 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’s 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 couldn’t compete with the dopamine buzz offered by pornography.
What’s
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’s 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 or otherwise he’ll
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
restimulating 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.
- By
Mohamed Ghilan, UVic Neuroscience
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