(L) High Wired: Does Addictive Internet Use Restructure the Brain? (2011)

COMMENTS: This article clearly shows that those with Internet addiction develop brain abnormalities that parallel those found in substance abusers. Researchers found a 10-20% reduction is frontal cortex gray matter in adolescents with Internet addiction. Hypofrontality is the common term for this change in brain structure. It is a key marker for all addiction processes. […]

Read More… from (L) High Wired: Does Addictive Internet Use Restructure the Brain? (2011)

How long will it take to recover from Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction?

This is the number one question we get from guys suffering porn-induced ED. However, we cannot predict how long it will take for your erectile health to return. Among those who stick with it, progression is surprisingly similar—when guys completely stop using pornography, and masturbation as well for a time, because it is initially so closely associated with porn fantasy.

[…]

Read More… from How long will it take to recover from Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction?

Anticipation of Novelty Recruits Reward System and Hippocampus While Promoting Recollection (2007)

COMMENTS: Another study demonstrating that novelty is its own reward and that the unexpected raises dopamine. One attribute that makes Internet porn different from porn of the past is the extreme novelty it provides along with the unexpected.

Full Study: Anticipation of novelty recruits reward system and hippocampus while promoting recollection

[…]

Read More… from Anticipation of Novelty Recruits Reward System and Hippocampus While Promoting Recollection (2007)

Vibrators and Other Pleasures: When Moderation Fails (2011)

[Also see Vibrators and “Dead Vagina Syndrome” (research and mainstream press)] Can you use sex toys or Internet erotica in moderation? The answer lies in your brain—not in any external advice, wisdom or dogma. It depends on the state of your reward circuitry, your brain’s ancient appetite mechanism. Sure, your brain may be particularly vulnerable […]

Read More… from Vibrators and Other Pleasures: When Moderation Fails (2011)

Does porn addiction cause irreversible damage to the brain?

It’s a common and erroneous belief that addiction equals “harm” to the brain, or that addiction is caused by “damage” to the brain. While certain addictive substances (meth, alcohol) can be neurotoxic, addiction is caused by a specific constellation of brain changes that are not necessarily classified as “brain damage”. Debunking the damage as addiction […]

Read More… from Does porn addiction cause irreversible damage to the brain?

Social Bonding Decreases the Rewarding Properties of Amphetamine through a Dopamine D1 Receptor-Mediated Mechanism (2011)

The Journal of Neuroscience, 1 June 2011, 31(22): 7960-7966; doi: 10.1523/​JNEUROSCI.1006-11.2011
Yan Liu1,*, Kimberly A. Young1,*, J. Thomas Curtis2, Brandon J. Aragona3, and Zuoxin Wang1

+ Author Affiliations
1.1Department of Psychology, Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306,
2.2Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Center for Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa Oklahoma 74107, and
3.3Department of Psychology, Program in Neuroscience, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
[…]

Read More… from Social Bonding Decreases the Rewarding Properties of Amphetamine through a Dopamine D1 Receptor-Mediated Mechanism (2011)