A study published in the Public Library of Science? Synthesis (PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (7): e102419) shows that for individuals who engage in compulsive sexual behavior, pornography activates activity in brain regions associated with what is known as “sex addiction,” a process similar to the effects of drugs on the brain. However, scientists do not forget to point out that the above findings do not necessarily mean that pornography itself is addictive. The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust in the UK. Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge recruited 19 male subjects who suffered from compulsive sexual behavior, along with an equal number of controls. The test group began viewing pornographic content at a younger age than the control group and viewed it at a higher rate than the control group. ”The individuals who participated in this study all had difficulty controlling their sexual behavior, a phenomenon that has serious consequences for their lives; in many ways, the behavior of sex addicts is similar to that of drug users, and we wanted to see if these similarities were also reflected in brain activity.” Valerie Voon, PhD, clinical research coordinator for the Wellcome Trust, noted. For the study, the researchers showed subjects a series of video clips involving sexual content or sports while monitoring their brain activity using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) device, which measures brain activity by analyzing blood oxygen dependent levels (BOLD). The researchers found that three specific brain regions were more active in subjects with compulsive behavior than in controls: the ventral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus and amygdala; these three brain regions were also activated when stimulated by drugs. The ventral striatum is associated with reward and motivational processes, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex is associated with anticipatory reward and drug craving, and the amygdala is involved in processing emotions. The researchers also asked the subjects to rate their level of libido and how much they enjoyed the video clips as they watched them. It is generally believed that drug addicts seek out drugs because they “want” them rather than “enjoy” them. This abnormal process is known as “causal motivation” and is a compelling theory in addiction disorders. As expected, subjects with compulsive sexual behavior showed high levels of sexual desire for pornographic videos compared to controls, but did not necessarily give the videos higher ratings in terms of preference. For these individuals, sexual desire was associated with elevated levels of interaction between several of these brain regions, and higher levels of interaction when viewing pornographic videos than when viewing sports videos. Dr. Voon and colleagues also found that subjects’ sex-related brain activity correlated with age: the younger the individual, the more intense the ventral striatum’s response to pornographic content. This phenomenon was particularly pronounced in individuals with compulsive sexual behavior. This fact suggests that the ventral striatum may play a role in the development of compulsive behaviors similar to that of drug addiction, but the researchers need to test this possibility directly. ”The brain activity in the two groups of subjects was distinct, mirroring the differences between the drug-addicted and healthy populations,” Dr. Voon noted, “This finding is interesting and deserves further attention; however, it cannot be used to diagnose sexual addiction, and our study does not provide evidence that these individuals were addicted to pornographic films However, it cannot be used to diagnose sexual addiction, nor does our study provide evidence that these individuals are addicted to pornography, or that the content is inherently addictive. We still need to conduct a lot of research to understand the relationship between compulsive sexual behaviors and drug addiction.” Dr. John Williams, director of neuroscience and mental health at the Wellcome Trust, said, “Phenomena including excessive pornography viewing, overeating and gambling are on the rise. This study helps to shed more light on why we repeat certain behaviors over and over again when we know they are harmful. Regardless of which of these behaviors we face, breaking the cycle is an important goal of the study.” Although the exact number is not known, previous research has shown that 4 percent of adults’ lives are affected by compulsive behaviors. They become trapped in sexual thoughts, emotions and behaviors that lead to significant mental distress and shame. Over-exposure to pornography is one of the main characteristics of this group. However, there are no clear criteria for diagnosing so-called “sex addiction”.