Porn may be bad for your brain

1. 15/06/2014 01:49Porn May Be Bad for Your Brain, Study Suggests | TIME
Page 1 of 2http://time.com/135853/porn-brain/
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HEALTH PORNOGRAPHY
Porn May Be Bad for Your Brain,
Study Suggests
Barbara Tasch May 29, 2014
A German study suggests that
watching porn may be linked to
reduced activity in certain areas of the
brain
A new study finds that men who watch a
lot of pornography tend to have less gray
matter volume as well as less activity in
the region of the brain linked to rewards.
The German study, published in JAMA
Psychiatry and which analyzed a
relatively small sample, provides the first
evidence which could lead to establishing
a link between pornography consumption
and brain size. However, it did not
determine whether watching porn leads
to the decreased volume and activity, or if
people born with certain brain
characteristics watch more porn.
The study’s researchers questioned 64 healthy men aged 21 to 45 about their porn
watching habits. They also examined how their brains reacted to pornographic images
and took images of their brains in order to measure volume.
The results also show that the brain region activated when people view sexual stimuli is
less active in men who watch a lot of pornography. It also shows the part of the brain
associated with processing rewards is smaller in men who view pornography more often.
Coloured MRI scan of the human head
Pasieka—Getty Images

2. 15/06/2014 01:49Porn May Be Bad for Your Brain, Study Suggests | TIME
Page 2 of 2http://time.com/135853/porn-brain/
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