Small-Brained Men Need Lots of Porn ... Maybe

LOS ANGELES—We're not so big-headed as to think we know it all, but for all we know it could be the other way around, and the fact that we don't know it all is the result of our smallish brains. It's hard to know for sure. It's kind of a six-of-one, half-a-dozen-of-the-other situation. That also appears to be the consensus regarding a study exploring the connection between porn viewing and the size and connectivity of portions of the brain associated with reward processing, motivated behavior and decision making. Put simply, higher amounts of porn viewing were found to be associated with a decrease in brain size and function, which is probably not a good thing as far as most humans are concerned. For some, it might prove beneficial as far as we know. (We're not brain doctors!) However, the lead author was quick to point out that the study, which, per Reuters, "recruited 64 healthy men between the ages of 21 and 45 years and asked them questions about their porn-watching habits," neither proves nor disproves a causal connection between the porn viewing and the grey matter shrinkage. “Unfortunately," said Simone Kühn from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, "we cannot answer this question based on the results of the present study." That said, Kühn nonetheless contended to Reuters that "the results provide the first evidence for a link between pornography consumption and reductions in brain size and brain activity in response to sexual stimuli." She further clarified, "We found that the volume of the so-called striatum, a brain region that has been associated with reward processing and motivated behavior, was smaller the more pornography consumption the participants reported. “Moreover," she added, "we found that another brain region, that is also part of the striatum that is active when people see sexual stimuli, shows less activation the more pornography participants consumed." Porn viewing is of course not the only activity that results in changes to the brain. "Kühn said other behaviors, such as driving a taxi, are linked to changes to brain size and functioning," noted Reuters. “Basically," Kühn added, "everything that people do very frequently can shape their brain structure and function." Reuters also spoke with Dr. Gregory Tau of the Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, who said of the general discussion, “Everything is going to be bad in excess and it’s probably not terrible in moderation." Of the specific study, with which he is unassociated, Tau commented, “It is possible that there are individuals with a certain kind of brain that are more susceptible to these kinds of behaviors. Or, it’s possible it’s the excessive use (of porn) that’s perpetuating itself to causing brain changes. Or, it could be both.” As people consider the results of this study, however, they also might want to keep in mind the authors' assumptions going in. As they explained in the study abstract, "Based on the assumption that pornography consumption bears resemblance with reward-seeking behavior, novelty-seeking behavior, and addictive behavior, we hypothesized alterations of the frontostriatal network in frequent users." The follow-up study will look at taxi drivers who consume porn ... maybe.