MorganTides
New research published in Human Brain Mapping has revealed that pornographic images trigger the reward centers of the brain more than the prospect of money or gaming in healthy adult men. The study, conducted at Brigham Young University, involved 31 male participants aged 19 to 38 years who were asked to choose their preferred stimuli: pornographic images, video game screenshots, or pictures of money that came with a slight monetary increase.
The participants were all healthy and right-handed, and this controlled for any sex differences in reward processing. The study aimed to explore how the human brain becomes conditioned to receive internet-related stimuli, such as pornography, gambling, and video gaming, as a reward even in a healthy context.
During the experiments, each rewarding image was paired with a geometric shape, while a fourth shape was paired with no reward at all. Data was collected from MRI scans, skin conductivity tests, and subjective ratings from the participants.
The findings revealed that the geometric shapes associated with the pornographic images were rated as more pleasant and arousing than the shapes associated with gaming or money. Additionally, the brain’s reward processing pathways were activated quicker when presented with pornographic images.
Previous research has also shown that pornography is more arousing and effective than other addictive activities. Understanding the neural mechanisms behind reward processing in the brain is crucial for developing new therapies for addiction treatment.
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