Article

Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated With Pornography Consumption The Brain on Porn

May 2014
JAMA Psychiatry 71(7)

DOI:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.93

Source
PubMed

Authors:

Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Importance Since pornography appeared on the Internet, the accessibility, affordability, and anonymity of consuming visual sexual stimuli have increased and attracted millions of users. 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.Objective To determine whether frequent pornography consumption is associated with the frontostriatal network.Design, Setting, and Participants In a study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany, 64 healthy male adults covering a wide range of pornography consumption reported hours of pornography consumption per week. Pornography consumption was associated with neural structure, task-related activation, and functional resting-state connectivity.Main Outcomes and Measures Gray matter volume of the brain was measured by voxel-based morphometry and resting state functional connectivity was measured on 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scans.Results We found a significant negative association between reported pornography hours per week and gray matter volume in the right caudate (P < .001, corrected for multiple comparisons) as well as with functional activity during a sexual cue–reactivity paradigm in the left putamen (P < .001). Functional connectivity of the right caudate to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was negatively associated with hours of pornography consumption.Conclusions and Relevance The negative association of self-reported pornography consumption with the right striatum (caudate) volume, left striatum (putamen) activation during cue reactivity, and lower functional connectivity of the right caudate to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex could reflect change in neural plasticity as a consequence of an intense stimulation of the reward system, together with a lower top-down modulation of prefrontal cortical areas. Alternatively, it could be a precondition that makes pornography consumption more rewarding.

Factors Helping Non-Traditional Women Students Persist in Counselling and Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programs

Article

Feb 2022

In this literature review, the authors provide an overview of the research on factors related to re-entry or nontraditional women students’ persistence in doctoral programs in counselling and clinical psychology. Re-entry women have a unique set of challenges beyond the challenges that regular graduate students face (e.g., role conflict, work commitments, and doubts related to abilities; Thomas, 2010). Furthermore, clinical and counselling psychology programs require practical training in addition to the classes and research required for traditional doctorates. As a result of these additional stressors, re-entry women students are at a higher risk of dropping out (Gittings et al., 2018). The purpose of this literature review is to provide an updated synthesis of the research findings to date focusing on resiliency factors for re-entry women.

The pornography use and its addiction among emerging adults in Malaysia: Perceived realism as a mediator

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May 2022
PLOS ONE

Past studies have demonstrated a link between pornography use and addiction to pornography, the underlying mechanism of the association is still unclear. This study intended to examine the mediating role of perceived realism of pornography in the association between pornography use and addiction among emerging adults in Malaysia. This study recruited 222 self-identified pornography users (M age = 21.05; SD Age = 1.68; 75.1% male respondents) via the purposive sampling method. The correlation results indicated positive associations among pornography use, addiction to pornography, and perceived realism of pornography. Further, the perceived realism of pornography significantly mediated the association between pornography use and addiction to pornography after controlling for gender. Thus, this study has provided a fundamental understanding on the perceived realism role of pornography in explaining the association between its use and addiction. Although it is unlikely to stop illegal pornography use, the results pointed out a need to guide emerging adults in pornography use via media literacy programmes.

Cybersex (including sex robots)

Chapter

Jan 2022

The present chapter addresses the many faces of cybersex and describes the mental health challenges of various sexual activities using new technologies. This includes a range of sexual behaviors, from Internet use to sex with robots. In many cases, cybersex use is not problematic and not associated with personal distress or functional impairment. However, in those cases where people lose control over their cybersexual behavior or harm others we discuss diagnostic criteria as well as differential diagnoses and ways to evaluate the given behavior. The chapter also addresses the current state of research regarding the psychobiology as well as pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment options of cybersexual behaviors that are associated with mental health issues.

The Taboo Love: Yaoi as a Potential Sexual Attraction for girls Regulate the Brain Response

Preprint

Full-text available

Jul 2021

Yaoi has a great deal of active fans recently. Enjoying yaoi, encompassing the addiction of male-to-male pornography and love, mostly begins at puberty. Yaoi has had a great influence on the sex education and school education of adolescent females. However, this enjoying is difficult to be accepted as part of mainstream culture. Considering the immense time, money and energy costs invested in yaoi, understanding the reason individuals indulge in yaoi is necessary to parents and education institutions. Unfortunately, it is unclear what effect prolonged attachment to this form of entertainment might have on brains of individuals influenced by yaoi pornographic descriptions. Our research firstly found compelling differences in prefrontal cortex and behavioral responses among individuals with different yaoi exposure histories.

Psychological and Forensic Challenges Regarding Youth Consumption of Pornography: A Narrative Review

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2021

Nowadays, technology has become part of the daily activities of a large part of the population. Many of the activities and development and socialization processes of minors and young people have been transferred to the online world, generating attention and concern from the educational, scientific, and forensic communities. One of the most worrying issues derived from this new online world is the consumption of pornography by teens. The objective of this literature review is to draw attention to the consequences and emotional disturbances derived from the consumption of pornography in young people, as well as the forensic implications of this phenomenon, among which are paraphilias, perpetration, and victimization of sexual assaults, and the development of new forms of online sexual victimization. The main findings suggest that the first contact with pornography starts at the age of 8 years old, with important behavioral and psychological consequences, such as hypersexualization, emotional disturbances, and the perpetuation of gender inequality. Furthermore, pornography consumption by youth has been linked to the exacerbation of paraphilias, an increase in sexual aggression perpetration and victimization, and, finally, it has been linked to an increase in online sexual victimization. Implications and future lines of research are discussed.

Reward Responsiveness, Learning, and Valuation Implicated in Problematic Pornography Use -a Research Domain Criteria Perspective

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2022

Purpose of Review Problematic pornography use (PPU) describes a pattern of behavior characterized by excessive time spent using or thinking about pornography and continued use despite negative consequences. To help advance the understanding of transdiagnostic underlying psychological and neurobiological mechanisms in PPU, we aim to review existing evidence on these mechanisms focusing on positive valence systems within the transdiagnostic Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Recent Findings Reward anticipation processes seem to be increased in individuals with PPU symptoms when they anticipate sexual stimuli compared with other rewards. Studies further suggest that the initial neural and attentional responses to sexual rewards compared with different control stimuli are also increased in individuals with PPU symptoms, as are conditioned responses in sexual reward learning paradigms. Sexual reward valuation studies point towards an increased neural value differentiation with increasing PPU symptoms. Summary The current state of evidence indicates that positive valence systems are altered in persons with PPU. This framework of organizing evidence may aid in elucidating PPU development and maintenance as well as planning future studies.

Problematic Pornography Use: Legal and Health Policy Considerations

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Full-text available

Dec 2021

Purpose of Review Reports of sexual violence, especially towards women and children, are rapidly increasing. At the same time, rates of problematic pornography use (PPU) are accelerating across the world too. The purpose of this review is to consider the recent research on PPU and its contribution to sexual violence. The article offers guidance to governments on possible health policy interventions and legal actions to prevent the development of PPU and to reduce the incidence of sexual violence in society. Recent Findings Working from the consumer’s point of view, we identify PPU and ask how much pornography is needed to cause PPU. We examine how PPU drives sexual offending in children, adolescents and adults. The impact of PPU on some consumers’ behaviour suggests significant links to domestic violence. Sexual strangulation is highlighted as an example. Artificial intelligence algorithms play a key role in the pornography industry and appear to be driving escalation to more violent material, inducing high levels of sexual dysfunction in consumers and creating appetites for viewing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Summary Easy access to internet pornography has led to an increase in PPU and sexual violence. Diagnoses and treatments for PPU are examined, as are legal transgressions of a civil and criminal nature arising from PPU. Legal remedies and government policy implications are discussed from the point of view of the precautionary principle. Strategies covered include age verification for pornography, public health campaigns and embedded health and legal warnings for users at the start of pornography sessions along with lessons for pupils about pornography’s impact on the brain.

The Impact of Negative Mood on Event-Related Potentials When Viewing Pornographic Pictures

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2021

Background: Negative affective states may increase the risk for problematic pornography use. Underlying neurophysiological mechanisms are, however, not completely understood. Previous research suggests that the participants' emotional state may affect neural processing of sexual stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate neural correlates of negative affect-induced alterations in sexual cue reactivity in healthy men. The moderating effects of habitual porn consumption, trait sexual motivation, and symptoms of cybersex addiction were also considered. Method: Sixty-four healthy men engaged in a sexual cue reactivity task (passive viewing of explicit sexual pictures and neutral pictures depicting scenes of social interaction) during negative ( n = 32) vs. neutral affect ( n = 32), induced via tailored feedback on a performance task. Self-reported sexual arousal and event-related brain potentials indicated cue reactivity and motivated attention. Symptoms of cybersex addiction and trait sexual motivation were assessed with the help of the short Internet Addiction Test, adapted to online sexual activities, and the Trait Sexual Motivation Questionnaire. Results: Negative feedback increased negative affect after the performance task. While sexual pictures compared to neutral pictures elicited significantly larger P300 and late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes, there was no general effect of negative feedback on sexual stimuli-related P300 and LPP amplitudes. In the negative feedback group, men with higher solitary sexual motivation levels showed higher P300/LPP difference amplitudes for sexual stimuli compared to men with lower levels of solitary sexual motivation. The opposite effect was found in the group with neutral feedback. There was no link to other aspects of trait sexual motivation and symptoms of cybersex addiction. Conclusions: Results suggest that higher levels of solitary sexual motivation may enhance motivated attention toward sexual stimuli among men receiving negative performance feedback. Other characteristics of sexual behaviors and traits provided no exploratory value. Future studies extending onto men suffering from compulsive sexual behavior disorder will have to closer look at the neurophysiological bases of why and when some men develop an addictive pornography consumption.

Sensory emotion regulation

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2023
TRENDS COGN SCI

Decades of evidence reveal intimate links between sensation and emotion. Yet, discussion of sensory experiences as tools that promote emotion regulation is largely absent from current theorizing on this topic. Here, we address this gap by integrating evidence from social-personality, clinical, cognitive-neuroscience, and animal research to highlight the role of sensation as a tool that can be harnessed to up- or downregulate emotion. Further, we review evidence implicating sensation as a rapid and relatively effortless emotion regulation modality and highlight future research directions. Notably, we emphasize the need to examine the duration of sensory emotion regulation effects, the moderating role of individual and cultural differences, and how sensory strategies interact with other strategies.

LET'S PLAY Edukačné videá a vzdelávanie počas pandémie Covid-19 v Českej a Slovenskej republike

Book

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Jan 2022

The period in which we live is characterised by tremendous dynamism. Everything is changing at a rapid pace, not least the content and form of education. Both the Slovak and Czech education systems have changed with the adoption of new school laws. We are feeling strong pressure from European structures to increase the proportion of university-educated people up to the level of 40%. Employers' expectations in relation to standards of educational results and professional competences are changing. We are facing the challenge of curricular transformation as the volume of 'core' knowledge continues to grow and we are trying to weave it into the content of education. We are facing the consequences of the decentralisation of education, but this does not prevent us from centralising the examination of knowledge in primary and secondary schools. There are critical voices saying that the current education system will soon fail because it is failing at its core, which is preparation for the future profession. These are just some of the current problems of education and its dynamics. Among the bulging issues that are opening up debate and strongly polarising the public are technological and electronic innovations. The use of the Internet, the flipping of social relationships into online identities, and the mass use of "smart" devices have all entered our lives significantly in the last 25 years. What was considered at the end of the 20th century to be a dependency on the Internet and technology is now the gold standard for interactions, but also for ways of self-presentation (e.g. a smartphone with a permanent Internet connection, whose hardware rivals gaming computers and high-end cameras). There is simply an intergenerational shift in how we perceive the necessity of using technology and the extent to which we use it in everyday life. People from the "Baby Boomers", "Husak's Children" and probably even "Millennials" can easily imagine life without technology and the Internet because they have had this experience. But Generation Y and α have not experienced such a life. The Internet and technology have been with them since birth. Chances are that at two years old, they knew the functions of a smartphone better than their parents. For many of them, the smartphone was a "nanny". And perhaps right now they use it for leisure, to communicate with friends and girlfriends, to look up information or pay for goods. Inevitably, there are two camps of people. In one are the opponents of mass use of technology and the Internet, including those seeking a technology detox and those who have unplugged. In the other are proponents of their use, including technology producers, app makers and distributors. Both sides have strong arguments that they use to support their position. The "against" side talks about the change in the neurophysiological qualities of the brain that causes us to be stupid. Some talk about "debilitation." There is a decline in our key abilities, such as the ability to communicate correctly, inhibit behavior, or expand the range of short-term memory. The 'pro' side talks about inevitable progress, the availability of information, networking, faster learning or the possibility of linking human consciousness with technology. As it happens, the truth will be somewhere in the middle. And some research carried out in the Czech Republic has indeed shown that as long as we use technology and the Internet in a reasonable way, it does not have to have negative consequences for us and we can use it for our development. In relation to the massiveness of the aforementioned phenomenon, we have no choice but to accept that the Internet and technology are an integral part of our lives, for current and future adolescents. If we look at the recent period, roughly defined as 03/2020 to 03/2022, associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on education, regardless of our attitude towards technology and the Internet, we must admit that they have been a lifesaver for us if we wanted to protect health and, at the same time, continue to educate children and adolescents. Teachers were confronted with new challenges from one day to the next, which consisted in changing the form of education and were associated with a number of technical and competence problems. Online education had been in operation for almost two years and computers, tablets, telephones, various communication applications were the common means of conveying information. Last but not least, educational videos gained popularity. Many older ones have been dusted off and a huge number of new ones have been created to make it easier for children and adolescents to learn educational content. They have their drawbacks, such as the lack of social interaction and the opportunity to ask questions. But they also have their upsides, such as greater clarity, the ability to proceed at one's own pace or to retrace previous steps. They appear to be a suitable complementary method that could find a firm place in both institutionalised and non-institutionalised education. We have addressed this content in our publication. We were interested in how adolescents were educated during the Covid-19 pandemic, how they used educational videos, whether their use was related to changes in the form of education, and how they perceived them.

Investigating the Associations of ADHD Symptoms, Impulsivity, Physical Exercise, and Problematic Pornography Use in a Chinese Sample

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2022
Int J Environ Res Publ Health

Investigating the relationship between attention-deﬁcit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and impulsivity will beneﬁt our understanding of the concept of problematic pornography use (PPU), and revealing predisposing and malleable moderators of PPU will be beneﬁcial for its prevention and intervention. The current study not only aimed to observe these relationships, but also explored the potential moderating role of physical exercise in the general population. A total of 600 Chinese adults (Mage = 32.31, SDage = 12.40, 39.8% women) were recruited and completed an online survey. The results showed that participants with regular exercise scored lower than those without exercise on ADHD, impulsivity, and PPU (all ps < 0.001). Using latent moderated structural equations (LMS), the ﬁndings revealed that the relationship between ADHD symptoms and PPU was mediated by impulsivity, and physical exercise moderated this relationship (B = −0.14, p = 0.048). Speciﬁcally, when individuals’ physical exercise was higher than 0.84 standard deviations above the mean, the positive predictive effect of impulsivity on PPU was not signiﬁcant. These ﬁndings indicate the important role of impulsivity in the relationship between ADHD and PPU, and physical exercise could be a meaningful component of interventions among individuals experiencing PPU.

Withdrawal and tolerance as related to compulsive sexual behavior disorder and problematic pornography use – Preregistered study based on a nationally representative sample in Poland

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2022

Background The addiction model of compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and problematic pornography use (PPU) predicts the presence of withdrawal symptoms and increased tolerance for sexual stimuli in the disorder phenotype. However, clear empirical evidence supporting this claim has largely been lacking. Methods In the preregistered, nationally representative survey ( n = 1,541, 51.2% women, age: M = 42.99, SD = 14.38), we investigated the role of self-reported withdrawal symptoms and tolerance with respect to CSBD and PPU severity. Results Both withdrawal and tolerance were significantly associated with the severities of CSBD ( β = 0.34; P < 0.001 and β = 0.38; P < 0.001, respectively) and PPU ( β = 0.24; P < 0.001 and β = 0.27; P < 0.001, respectively). Of the 21 withdrawal symptom types investigated, the most often reported symptoms were frequent sexual thoughts that were difficult to stop (for participants with CSBD: 65.2% and with PPU: 43.3%), increased overall arousal (37.9%; 29.2%), difficult to control level of sexual desire (57.6%; 31.0%), irritability (37.9%; 25.4%), frequent mood changes (33.3%; 22.6%), and sleep problems (36.4%; 24.5%). Conclusions Changes related to mood and general arousal noted in the current study were similar to the cluster of symptoms in a withdrawal syndrome proposed for gambling disorder and internet gaming disorder in DSM-5. The study provides preliminary evidence on an understudied topic, and present findings can have significant implications for understanding the etiology and classification of CSBD and PPU. Simultaneously, drawing conclusions about clinical importance, diagnostic utility and detailed characteristics of withdrawal symptoms and tolerance as a part of CSBD and PPU, as well as other behavioral addictions, requires further research efforts.

Tránsito histórico de la pornografía: de transformaciones hasta la era del internet*

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

La pornografía en internet se presenta como un fenómeno sin precedentes en la historia de la humanidad. Este trabajo expone una revisión teórico-histórica que da cuenta de las transformaciones culturales y sociojurídicas que permitieron su conformación, y al mismo tiempo destaca los rasgos distintivos que la separan cualitativamente de formas similares de material erotizante. En un movimiento dialéctico, caracterizado inicialmente por la unión entre sexualidad y divinidad, posteriormente por una era oscura de censura y opresión y, finalmente, por una nueva liberación como mercancía y entretenimiento en la era de la información, la pornografía ha sufrido transformaciones vertiginosas que adelantan con creces el estudio de la academia, particularmente en nuestra realidad latinoamericana.

Fundamentos de la Educación y Responsabilidad Social Educativa: INVESTIGACIONES PREDOCTORALES. Año 2022

Book

Full-text available

Jul 2022

Recopilación de estudios realizados por investigadores en formación a la sombra del Grupo de Investigación de Alto Rendimiento FERSE (Fundamentos de la Educación y Responsabilidad Social Educativa. Los estudios están vinculados a la línea de investigación preferente, no obstante, existen investigaciones que hacen aportaciones a diversas líneas.

Neurobiology and Genetics of Behavioral Addictions: A Brief Review

Article

Jun 2022

The lived experience of psychosis: a bottom‐up review co‐written by experts by experience and academics

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022

Psychosis is the most ineffable experience of mental disorder. We provide here the first co‐written bottom‐up review of the lived experience of psychosis, whereby experts by experience primarily selected the subjective themes, that were subsequently enriched by phenomenologically‐informed perspectives. First‐person accounts within and outside the medical field were screened and discussed in collaborative workshops involving numerous individuals with lived experience of psychosis as well as family members and carers, representing a global network of organizations. The material was complemented by semantic analyses and shared across all collaborators in a cloud‐based system. The early phases of psychosis (i.e., premorbid and prodromal stages) were found to be characterized by core existential themes including loss of common sense, perplexity and lack of immersion in the world with compromised vital contact with reality, heightened salience and a feeling that something important is about to happen, perturbation of the sense of self, and need to hide the tumultuous inner experiences. The first episode stage was found to be denoted by some transitory relief associated with the onset of delusions, intense self‐referentiality and permeated self‐world boundaries, tumultuous internal noise, and dissolution of the sense of self with social withdrawal. Core lived experiences of the later stages (i.e., relapsing and chronic) involved grieving personal losses, feeling split, and struggling to accept the constant inner chaos, the new self, the diagnosis and an uncertain future. The experience of receiving psychiatric treatments, such as inpatient and outpatient care, social interventions, psychological treatments and medications, included both positive and negative aspects, and was determined by the hope of achieving recovery, understood as an enduring journey of reconstructing the sense of personhood and re‐establishing the lost bonds with others towards meaningful goals. These findings can inform clinical practice, research and education. Psychosis is one of the most painful and upsetting existential experiences, so dizzyingly alien to our usual patterns of life and so unspeakably enigmatic and human.

No service is an island: towards an ecosystem approach to mental health service evaluation

Article

Jun 2022

Emerging experience with selected new categories in the ICD-11: complex PTSD, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder

Article

Full-text available

May 2022
WORLD PSYCHIATRY

Among the important changes in the ICD-11 is the addition of 21 new mental disorders. New categories are typically proposed to: a) improve the usefulness of morbidity statistics; b) facilitate recognition of a clinically important but poorly classified mental disorder in order to provide appropriate management; and c) stimulate research into more effective treatments. Given the major implications for the field and for World Health Organization (WHO) member states, it is important to examine the impact of these new categories during the early phase of the ICD-11 implementation. This paper focuses on four disorders: complex post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder. These categories were selected because they have been the focus of considerable activity and/or controversy and because their inclusion in the ICD-11 represents a different decision than was made for the DSM-5. The lead authors invited experts on each of these disorders to provide insight into why it was considered important to add it to the ICD-11, implications for care of not having that diagnostic category, important controversies about adding the disorder, and a review of the evidence generated and other developments related to the category since the WHO signaled its intention to include it in the ICD-11. Each of the four diagnostic categories appears to describe a population with clinically important and distinctive features that had previously gone unrecognized as well as specific treatment needs that would otherwise likely go unmet. The introduction of these categories in the ICD-11 has been followed by a substantial expansion of research in each area, which has generally supported their validity and utility, and by a significant increase in the availability of appropriate services.

Perspective: Can psychedelic-assisted therapy be a promising aid in compulsive sexual behavior disorder treatment?

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022
COMPR PSYCHIAT

Recently, there has been an increase in studies yielding evidence for psychedelics' anxiolytic and anti-depressive qualities. Preliminary evidence for treatment in substance addiction is also available. In our manuscript, we present a perspective on the possible effectiveness and mechanisms of action of psychedelics' introduction in the treatment of Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) and other problematic sexual behaviors, which are considered representative of the so-called “behavioral addiction” category. Evidence for the efficacy of Mindfulness Based Interventions in CSBD treatment is promising. Psychedelics- and mindfulness-induced states share common characteristics on both a subjective and objective level. One of the proposed mechanisms regards reduction of experiential avoidance through the promotion of exposure and acceptance. On the neurophysiological level, a shift from higher- to lower-level association regions and an impact on 5- HT2A receptors is observed. Elaborated mechanisms explain the possible enhancement of therapeutic processes by psychedelics. Psychedelics' relative safety and low addictive potential support their introduction into traditional forms of therapy for CSBD and other out of control behaviors.

Acta Catallactics časopis za ekonomska i opšta društvena pitanja (broj 2, godina 2)

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Full-text available

Feb 2022

Pred Vama je četvrti broj naučnog časopisa “Acta Catallactics, časopis za ekonomska i opšta društvena pitanja” koji je osnovan 2019. godine i izlazi dva puta godišnje u izdanju udruženja “Multi” i Visoke škole “Internacionalna poslovno-informaciona akademija” Tuzla. Prvi i drugi brojevi časopisa su prigodni, na bazi knjige “Populizam, izabrane teme” i DIEC, treće međunarodne naučne konferencije o digitalnoj ekonomiji. Treći i četvrti broj časopisa je obuhvatio nove radove koji su recenzirani za potrebe objavljivanja.

Pandemic & Public Health Literature December 14th, 2022

Research

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Stephen Sammut

As a behavioral neuroscientist focused on psychopathology, the happenings pertaining to the measures taken to address COVID-19 and their consequences are as much of interest as anything other work that I do. This document is a collation of quotes and some comments pertaining to every aspect of COVID-19 and its impact on the brain and behavior, on the individual and on society as a whole. The same document is updated weekly (generally) and also available on the web at: https://sammutlab.com/covid-19-resources/

Impact of COVID-19 on pornography use: Evidence from big data analyses

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021
PLOS ONE

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to radical changes in social distancing awareness and affected social relationships. Owing to large-scale lockdown, home quarantine and social distancing requirements, it was anticipated that sexual activities would be severely impacted. However, retrospective self-report studies showed that pornography use and autoerotism increased during the pandemic. Aim This study used big-data databases available on the Internet to investigate factors that modulated pornography use during the pandemic. Methods Daily relative search volume (RSV) data from Google Trends for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020 were extracted. Pornhub traffic data were extracted from the Pornhub Insights website, for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020. The parameter was defined as ‘percent change in traffic compared to an average day in 2019’. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was extracted from the database on Our World in Data. Outcome measures The normality of the data was examined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. All variables included in this study were non-normally distributed. Therefore, non-parametric tests or parametric tests with bootstrapping were adopted where appropriate. Results According to Google Trends, the RSV for ‘pornography’ increased after late March 2020, which is close to the date when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was positively correlated with the traffic of Pornhub, a popular pornography website, and the RSV for ‘pornography’. Moderation analysis demonstrated a significant main effect of daily new cases of COVID-19 and the RSV for ‘social distancing’ in predicting Pornhub traffic/RSV for ‘pornography’. Furthermore, the RSV for ‘social distancing’ significantly moderated the relationship between daily new cases and Pornhub traffic/RSV for ‘pornography’. A stronger COVID-pornography use association was observed with increased social distancing awareness. Conclusion Increased pornography consumption during the pandemic was observed, and it was associated with the severity of the pandemic. Social distancing awareness could be a key factor influencing interest in and use of pornography. Further studies on the changes in sexual desire and birth-rate control are worthwhile because long-term public health may be affected by the changes in sexual behaviour during the pandemic.

The Association between the Quantity and Severity of Pornography Use: A Meta-analysis

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021
J SEX RES

Although the quantity of pornography use (QPU, i.e., frequency/time spent on pornography use) has been positively associated with the severity of pornography use (i.e., problematic pornography use, PPU), the magnitudes of relationships have varied across studies. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the overall relationships and identify potential moderating variables to explain the variation in these associations between QPU and PPU. We performed a literature search for all published and unpublished studies from 1995 to 2020 in major online scientific databases up until December 2020. Sixty-one studies were identified with 82 independent samples involving 74,880 participants. Results indicated that there was a positive, moderate relationship between QPU and PPU (r = 0.34, p < .001). The strength of relationship significantly varied across measures of PPU based on different theoretical frameworks, indicators of QPU, and sexual cultural contexts (conservative vs. permissive sexual values). Frequency was a more robust quantitative indicator of PPU than time spent on pornography use. In conservative countries, QPU showed more robust association with self-perceived PPU. Future studies are encouraged to select the measurement of PPU according to research aims and use multi-item measures with demonstrated content validity to assess pornography use. Cross-cultural (conservative/permissive) comparisons also warrant further research.

Internet Addiction and Psychological Health in Adolescent Indian Medical Students- A Cross Sectional Study

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2021

Background: With the inclusion of Internet in daily lifestyle, it has become crucial to explore its purpose, effects on mental health and to understand the implications. As adolescence is a vulnerable age group, this study has taken Indian medical students in late adolescence to understand how Internet impacts their lives. Objectives: 1. To explore the severity of problematic Internet use ‘PIU’ in Indian medical students. 2. To assess its effects on psychological health and loneliness. 3. To correlate problematic Internet use with the purpose of use. Materials And Methods:185 first MBBS students of BMCRI (Mean age- 18.075 years) were administered 4 questionnaires- Young’s Internet Addiction test, UCLA loneliness questionnaire (Version 3), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) and a self administered questionnaire to assess purpose of Internet usage. Results: Out of 185 students, 67 were average users who showed control over their use of Internet and 118 had PIU (113 with frequent, 5 with significant problems). Significant positive correlation was found between PIU and psychological morbidity (r=0.3442, p<0.0001) as well as loneliness (r=0.2045, p= 0.0051). Daily average use of Internet was mostly for social media (51.2%) followed by academics (20%), others (20%) and gaming (8.2%). PIU was significantly positively correlated to social media usage (r=0.2666, p= 0.0002) as well as negatively correlated to academics (r= -0.372, p<0.0001). Conclusion: In our study, PIU was positively correlated to poor psychological health, loneliness and use for social media. It showed negative correlation with academics. This may suggest that PIU is linked to psychosocial implications. It may be worthwhile correlating purpose of use with severity of PIU. Social media seems to be of importance in India as opposed to China, where gaming is the major concern. As some activities could be more addictive than others leading to dysfunctional lifestyle, Internet use must be regulated and used judiciously.Method: A total of 22 patients (out of initial 24 referrals) who met DSM IV criteria for MDD were enrolled into the study. The subjects all had to fail at least one prior treatment for depression. The patients received the FDA approved protocol of high-frequency (10 Hz) rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results: Seventeen cases out of twenty-two cases showed significant improvements after two weeks of treatment. Only six patients continued their treatments for the next two to four weeks. Conclusions: We have replicated other studies showing that using rTMS is effective with no major side effects for many patients with MDD and their improvements are measurable mostly after two weeks. Our data highlights the importance of application of more convenient protocols which require fewer sessions on fewer days to help with compliance and outcome particularly in large populated cities and countries like Iran going through economic hardship.

Controversies and Clinical Recommendations for the Treatment of Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Purpose of Review Compulsive sexual behavior disorder is defined as a persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behaviors that cause marked distress or impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Although compulsive sexual behavior has been identified in the literature for a considerable period of time, it remains a controversial and understudied condition. For the past several decades, compulsive sexual behavior has been labeled and classified in numerous ways. Recent Findings Research on minoritized racial, ethnic, and sexual groups, older adults, individuals with disabilities, and the impact of religious beliefs remains limited in the literature of compulsive sexual behavior. Several psychiatric comorbidities with compulsive sexual behavior have been identified; however, treatment options, neuroscience, proper medication, and assessment measures are insufficient to draw strong conclusions. Summary Recommendations for future classification, research, treatment, and assessment are suggested to aid in filling these gaps. Specifically, additional focus should be given to diverse populations (e.g., LGBTQ + , older adults, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities) in future research to better understand the etiology, prevalence, assessment, and best clinical practices for treatment-seeking clients.

On-Device Content Moderation

Preprint

Full-text available

Jul 2021

With the advent of internet, not safe for work(NSFW) content moderation is a major problem today. Since,smartphones are now part of daily life of billions of people,it becomes even more important to have a solution which coulddetect and suggest user about potential NSFW content present ontheir phone. In this paper we present a novel on-device solutionfor detecting NSFW images. In addition to conventional porno-graphic content moderation, we have also included semi-nudecontent moderation as it is still NSFW in a large demography.We have curated a dataset comprising of three major categories,namely nude, semi-nude and safe images. We have created anensemble of object detector and classifier for filtering of nudeand semi-nude contents. The solution provides unsafe body partannotations along with identification of semi-nude images. Weextensively tested our proposed solution on several public datasetand also on our custom dataset. The model achieves F1 scoreof 0.91 with 95% precision and 88% recall on our customNSFW16k dataset and 0.92 MAP on NPDI dataset. Moreover itachieves average 0.002 false positive rate on a collection of safeimage open datasets.

Neuroimaging Role in Mental Illnesses

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2021

Abdulwahab F. Alahmari

Altered functional connectivity of the default mode and frontal control networks in patients with insomnia

Article

Mar 2023
CNS NEUROSCI THER

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between spontaneous regional activity and brain functional connectivity, which maybe can distinguish insomnia while being responsive to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment effects in insomnia patients. Methods: Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 38 chronic insomnia patients and 36 healthy volunteers, we compared the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) between the two groups. Of all the patients with insomnia, 20 received rTMS for 4 weeks, while 18 patients received a 4-week pseudo-stimulation intervention. Seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analysis was conducted from regions with significantly different ALFF values, and the association between RSFC value and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score was determined. Results: Our results revealed that insomnia patients presented a significantly higher ALFF value in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), whereas a significantly lower ALFF value was observed in the superior parietal lobule (SPL). Moreover, significantly reduced RSFC was detected from both PCC to prefrontal cortex connections, as well as from left SPL to frontal pole connections. In addition, RSFC from frontal pole to left SPL negatively predicted sleep quality (PSQI) and treatment response in patients' group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that disrupted frontoparietal network connectivity may be a biomarker for insomnia in middle-aged adults, reinforcing the potential of rTMS targeting the frontal lobes. Monitoring pretreatment RSFC could offer greater insight into how rTMS treatments are responded to by insomniacs.

Disfunção erétil em jovens causada por pornografia

Article

Jan 2023

Este trabalho, através de revisão bibliográfica, investiga a associação entre o uso de pornografia e o crescente aumento nas taxas de disfunção erétil, em um contexto onde fatores tradicionais não sofreram variações suficientes para justificar a grandeza dessa elevação.As alterações relacionadas ao sistema de recompensa se apresentam como fator chave na elucidação do aumento da taxa de disfunções sexuais, por meio da diminuição da sensibilidade do indivíduo frente aos prazeres reais e da formação de mecanismos que levam ao vício e a compulsão. A partir da análise e reflexões sobre a bibliografia é possível considerar que existe uma estreita relação de causa e consequência entre pornografia e disfunção erétil em homens com idade inferior a 40 anos. A elevação da incidência do distúrbio tem, como uma das razões de seu agravamento,a proliferação de grandes sites da indústria pornográfica, que busca atender as demandas específicas dos usuários. Relatórios clínicos tem apontado a superação do vício por meio da reinicialização, onde o sujeito se abstém da pornografia por um dado período de tempo. Entretanto, mais estudos se fazem necessários na elaboração de eficazes métodos diagnósticos e de tratamentos farmacológicos.

STRATEGI GURU PENDIDIKAN AGAMA ISLĀM DALAM MEMBINA AKHLAK GENERASI Z (Studi Kasus di SMA Negeri 26 Bandung)

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2017

Achmad Faqihuddin

The importance of this research is that Z Generation is undergoing educational process in schools dealing with teachers who mostly from previous generations such as Y generation, generation X even baby boomers. This will occur gap between generations and become a separate problem if the teacher does not use the relevant strategy in educating. Moreover characteristic of Z generation which is very complex and different from previous generation. This thesis presents related teacher strategy in fostering the character of Z generation with qualitative approach and using purposive sampling method. The findings in the field related to the strategy of PAI teachers in fostering the character of the Z generation is through the process of learning in the classroom with various methods of learning PAI and using technology-based media, noble moral habituation in the school environment and through school communication with parents in fostering morals learners . But it is unfortunate in growing noble moral habits have not supported adequate facilities in the form of buildings and technology. Completing facilities and preparing technology experts should be a priority in educating the Z generation, especially in the development of smartphone-based digital technology to support the program habituation, learning and school communication with parents. In addition, Z-generation educators also need to be equipped with e-pedagogy skills.

The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry guidelines on the assessment and pharmacological treatment of compulsive sexual behaviour disorder

Article

Nov 2022

Objectives The current guidelines aim to evaluate the role of pharmacological agents in the treatment of patients with compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD). They are intended for use in clinical practice by clinicians who treat patients with CSBD. Methods An extensive literature search was conducted using the English-language-literature indexed on PubMed and Google Scholar without time limit, supplemented by other sources, including published reviews. Results Each treatment recommendation was evaluated with respect to the strength of evidence for its efficacy, safety, tolerability, and feasibility. Psychoeducation and psychotherapy are first-choice treatments and should always be conducted. The type of medication recommended depended mainly on the intensity of CSBD and comorbid sexual and psychiatric disorders. There are few randomised controlled trials. Although no medications carry formal indications for CSBD, selective-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors and naltrexone currently constitute the most relevant pharmacological treatments for the treatment of CSBD. In cases of CSBD with comorbid paraphilic disorders, hormonal agents may be indicated, and one should refer to previously published guidelines on the treatment of adults with paraphilic disorders. Specific recommendations are also proposed in case of chemsex behaviour associated with CSBD. Conclusions An algorithm is proposed with different levels of treatment for different categories of patients with CSBD.

Neurobiology of Sex and Pornography Addictions: A Primer

Article

Oct 2022

Contrary to the earlier notion that addiction is predominantly a substance dependency, research now suggests that any source or experience capable of stimulating an individual has addictive potential. This has led to a paradigm shift in the psychiatric understanding of behavioural addictions. These can refer to a range of behaviors such as gambling, video gaming, and sexual practices. Hypersexual behavior and pornography addiction come to the fore when the behavior becomes intensive, out of the individual’s control, and persists in that pattern despite harmful consequences and risk of harm to one’s emotional and/or physical health. The ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic with its’ social distancing norms has further turned sexual practices to digital platforms with increase in pornography use, and hence addictions and unhealthy use of technology. There are several overlapping lines between these dimensions, and there are both components of compulsivity and impulsivity involved. Substantial evidence of neurobiological and psychological models has been used to conceptualize sex and pornography addictions. However, there is no academic consensus or operational criteria that can aid in diagnosing these conditions or estimating their impact. Moreover, the body of evidence on effective treatments is limited. With this background, this descriptive review looks at the various neurophysiological, genetic, and imaging markers of sex and pornography addictions including their possible evidence-based neuroplastic effects on the brain functioning and sexual behavior, and the neurobiological intersections with substance-abuse disorders, and finally outlines the future directions of related research.

Need of Sex Narapidana Remaja di Lembaga Pemasyarakatan

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2021

Need of sex is basic need for human’s life. This need appearance began when humans are in adolescent ages, Freud called it Genital Phase. A phase which human start to canalized sex impulse to the outer object such as love, having sex, and family (Alwisol, 2004). The objective of this research is to know how need of sex on adolescent’s life at Lowokwaru Prison, Malang City. This research used qualitative methods and belongs to phenomenon research. And the researcher used three subject with one person has been charged with thief and rob punishment, and the other two are have been charged by rape punishment. Result of this research is, need of sex can’t be dissapear, but it can be substituted by the other instinct’s object depends on situation and condition of subject who’s experiencing. All three subjects admitted that they’ve been masturbated all the time when they feel they have to, in order to reduce the tension that may happen. Keywords: need of sex; prisoner; adolescent; prison; male Abstrak: Need of sex adalah kebutuhan yang mendasar bagi kehidupan manusia. Kemunculan kebutuhan ini dimulai saat manusia menginjak usia remaja, usia yang digolongkan sebagai fase genital oleh Freud. Sebuah tahapan di mana manusia mulai menyalurkan impuls seks pada objek luar seperti cinta, perkawinan (seks) dan keluarga (Alwisol, 2004). Tahap inilah yang menjadi tujuan penelitian untuk mengetahui bagaimana Need of Sex pada remaja di Lapas Kelas I Lowokwaru Malang. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan jenis fenomenologi dan menggunakan tiga subjek remaja pria yang menjalani masa tahanan di Lapas Kelas I Lowokwaru Malang dengan kasus pencurian dan perampokan, serta pemerkosaan. Alat pengumpul data dalam penelitian ini adalah wawancara mendalam dan observasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa remaja sangat rentan terhadap pengaruh lingkungan yang buruk jika dasar pengetahuan, agama, nilai dan moral dari keluarganya dirasa kurang. Karena keluarga adalah lingkungan terkecil sekaligus lingkungan pertama, tempat subyek menyerap berbagai macam pemahaman yang akan memengaruhi subyek dalam mengambil keputusan dalam hidupnya. Ditemukan juga bahwa, Need of Sex tidak dapat dihilangkan, namun masih dapat disubstitusi pada objek insting yang lain tergantung pada situasi dan kondisi yang dialami subjek. Ketika subyek menjalani masa hukuman di dalam lapas, ketiga subyek mengaku berperilaku kurang lebih sama yaitu meredakan tegangan yang ada dengan cara masturbasi. Kata kunci: need of sex; narapidana; remaja; lapas; pria

The Correlation Between Adolescent Experiences of Violence and Parental Attachment With Adolescent Desire to Use Online Pornography

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

The increasing curiosity and various hormones (particularly sexual hormones) are problems for adolescents, which frequently cause them to become unstable. Another factor that contributes to the complexity of adolescent problems is technological advances. Apart from being a useful means of information technology that is generally beneficial to human life, the internet may also become a threat to adolescents by facilitating access to explicit sexual content, namely online pornography. Besides the above factors, this research examined other factors associated with adolescents’ inclination to consume online pornography. The purpose of this study is to discover whether there is a correlation between past experiences of violence and parental attachment to the desire to use online pornography. The research method is quantitative and the research subjects were adolescents (N=167, male=70.1%, female=29.9%, M=15–19 years). The findings revealed two things: first, there was no correlation between the past experiences of violence and the desire to use online pornography (r=0.102; p>0.05); and second, parental attachment had a negative correlation with the desire to use online pornography (r=–0.157; p<0.05). The contribution of this research is to reaffirm the significance of quality adolescent-parent attachment in fostering a wholesome emotional sense of security and developing a healthy sexual identity.

Impacto biopsicosocial de la pornografía en internet: una revisión narrativa de la literatura

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021
RACC

Internet ha cambiado los modos de relacionarse, específicamente el uso de redes sociales y el consumo de contenido multimedia, incluyendo la pornografía. A pesar de lo anterior, existe escasa literatura empírica nacional que aborde el fenómeno de la pornografía en internet. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo describir los efectos de la pornografía desde una perspectiva biopsicosocial, dando particular énfasis a la pornografía en internet, a fin de contextualizar dicho campo. Dentro de las tres dimensiones cubiertas, los estudios tienden a descartar la existencia de efectos evidentes, de alto impacto y a corto plazo, como también destacan la importancia del contexto en su modulación. Se presentan limitantes y observaciones críticas a los estudios reportados, como también se insta a abrir el debate académico nacional en torno a un fenómeno que, hace bastante, escapa de nuestras pantallas y demanda una aproximación científica críticamente actualizada.

Feminismo digital. Violencia contra las mujeres y brecha sexista en internet.

Book

Full-text available

Dec 2021

El presente libro explora el feminismo como fuerza motriz en la sociedad digital en la que actualmente vivimos. Se trata de una obra que se trata de dilucidar cuestiones relevantes en el mundo actual: ¿cómo impacta la tecnología digital sobre los derechos de las mujeres?, ¿permite la construcción de un mundo más libre para las mujeres u origina nuevas formas de violencia machista? El libro recorre temas de interés como los algoritmos, el teletrabajo, la brecha sexista en internet, el impacto cultural de la pornografía, la cosificación sexual en redes sociales y la violencia machista a través de las tecnologías digitales.

Digital Behaviours and Cognitions of Individuals Convicted of Online Child Pornography Offences

Thesis

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Chad Steel

BACKGROUND Modern Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) offences predominantly occur within a technological ecosystem. The behaviours and cognitions of CSEM offenders influence, and are influenced by, their choice of facilitative technologies that form that ecosystem. OBJECTIVES This thesis will review the prior research on cognitive distortions present in and technology usage by CSEM offenders, and present a new theory, Lawless Space Theory (LST), to explain those interactions. The cognitions and technical behaviours of previously convicted CSEM offenders will be examined in a psychosocial context and recommendations for deterrence, investigative, and treatment efforts made. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING Data was collected using an online survey collected from two samples, one from a reference population of the general public (n=524) and one from a population of previously convicted CSEM offenders (n=78), both of which were composed of adults living in the United States. METHODS Two reviews were conducted using a PRISMA methodology - a systematic review of the cognitive distortions of CSEM offenders and an integrative review of their technology usage. A theoretical basis for LST was developed, and then seven investigations of the survey data were conducted evaluating the public’s endorsement of lawless spaces; the public’s perceptions of CSEM offenders; the self-perceptions of CSEM offenders; the suicidality of the offender sample; the use of technology and countermeasures by the offender sample; the collecting and viewing behaviours of the offender sample; and the idiographic profiles of the offender sample. RESULTS The reviews found that the endorsement of traditional child contact offender cognitive distortions by CSEM offenders was low, and that they continued to use technology beyond its normative lifecycle. LST was developed to explain these behaviours, and the view of the Internet as generally lawless was endorsed by the reference and offender samples. The public sample showed biased beliefs that generally overestimated the prevalence of, and risk associated with, CSEM offending when compared to the offender sample. Offenders were found to have viewed investigators as having a lack of understanding and compassion, and they exhibited very high suicidal ideation following their interaction with law enforcement. Offenders exhibited similar technical abilities and lower technophilia than the reference sample, chose technologies to both reduce psychological strain and for utility purposes, and many exhibited cyclic deletions of their collections as part of a guilt/shame cycle. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Understanding CSEM offenders’ technological behaviours and cognitions can inform more effective investigative, deterrence, and treatment efforts. Law enforcement showing compassion during investigations may generate more full disclosures while facilitating offender engagement with resources to reduce suicidality. Deterrence efforts focused on establishing capable guardianship and reducing perceived lawlessness provide the potential to reduce offending. Treatment of criminogenic needs for the majority of CSEM offenders is not supported by evidence, but noncriminogenic treatment warrants broader consideration.

Acciones públicas frente a la violencia de género digital. Un acercamiento comparado desde el nivel autonómico español.

Chapter

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Juana María Ruiloba-Núñez

Electrophysiological evidence of enhanced early attentional bias toward sexual images in individuals with tendencies toward cybersex addiction

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021

Background and aims: Attentional bias is a key factor in addictive behavior maintenance. However, whether attentional bias has a similar effect on cybersex addiction is unclear. We investigated differences in the attentional processing of sexually explicit images between individuals with high tendencies toward cybersex addiction (TCA) versus low tendencies using behavioral and electrophysiological indices. Methods: Twenty-eight individuals with high TCA and 29 with low TCA performed an addiction Stroop task comprising sexual and neutral images in colored frames. Participants were asked to respond to the frame color and not the image contents, and behavioral and event-related potentials were recorded. Results: Behaviorally, an addiction Stroop interference effect was found in the high TCA group, as shown by the longer reaction times to judge the frame colors of sexual images. Electrophysiologically, a P200 (150-220 ms) enhancement was present in response to sexual images compared with neutral ones, which was absent in the low TCA group. The event-related potential correlates with the addiction Stroop interference effect, indicating that the attentional bias underlying the addiction Stroop interference operates at an automatic level. A general, sexually related bias was found in the late positive potential (300-700 ms) amplitude, although between-group differences were insignificant. Discussion and conclusions: These findings indicate that sexual stimuli grab the attentional resources of individuals with high TCA at early automatic stages of attentional processing. Increased cue reactivity to sexual stimuli may contribute to pornographic consumption and play a crucial role in sustaining problematic excessive use of online pornography.

Developmental aspects (including cyberbullying)

Chapter

Jan 2022

Although there is a growing interest in understanding the impact of types and patterns of Internet use on individuals of different ages, relatively few studies have fully considered developmental perspectives. This chapter offers an overview of the main findings regarding Internet use and problematic Internet use during stages of development. It includes both behavioral development and neurodevelopment and describes frequently performed online behaviors including social networking, online sex, gambling and gaming, and cyberbullying.

On-Device Content Moderation

Conference Paper

Jul 2021

Fantasy, Online Misogyny and the Manosphere: Male Bodies of Dis/Inhibition

Book

Sep 2021

Jacob Johanssen

Trudności w funkcjonowaniu seksualnym a nałogowe korzystanie z pornografii [Difficulties in sexual functioning and problematic pornography use]

Thesis

Full-text available

Jan 2020

Ewelina Kowalewska

Aberrant orbitofrontal cortex reactivity to erotic cues in Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2021

Background and aims Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) is characterized by increased reactivity to erotic reward cues. Cue-encoded reward parameters, such as type (e.g. erotic or monetary) or probability of anticipated reward, shape reward-related motivational processes, increase the attractiveness of cues and therefore might enhance maladaptive behavioral patterns in CSBD. Studies on the neural patterns of cue processing in individuals with CSBD have been limited mainly to ventral striatal responses. Therefore, here we aimed to examine the cue reactivity of multiple key structures in the brain's reward system, taking into account not only the type of predicted reward but also its probability. Methods Twenty Nine men seeking professional help due to CSBD and 24 healthy volunteers took part in an fMRI study with a modified Incentive Delay Task with erotic and monetary rewards preceded by cues indicating a 25%, 50%, or 75% chance of reward. Analyses of functional patterns of activity related to cue type and probability were conducted on the whole-brain and ROI levels. Results Increased anticipatory response to cues predictive of erotic rewards was observed among CSBD participants when compared to controls, in the ventral striatum and anterior orbitofrontal cortex (aOFC). The activity in aOFC was modulated by reward probability. Discussion and conclusions Type of anticipated reward (erotic vs monetary) affects reward-related behavioral motivation in CSBD more strongly than reward probability. We present evidence of abnormal aOFC function in CSBD by demonstrating the recruitment of additional subsections of this region by erotic reward cues.

Pornography Use Could Lead to Addiction and Was Associated With Reproductive Hormone Levels and Semen Quality: A Report From the MARHCS Study in China

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2021

This study aimed to investigate the situations of pornography use among male college students of China, to explore the addiction possibility for pornography use, and to study the associations between pornography use and reproductive hormone levels and semen quality. 568 participants met the inclusion criteria and finished all of the questionnaires and hormone level and semen parameter examinations. A majority of participants (except one) had pornography use experience, 94.2% participants started pornography use before college, and 95.9% participants reported they had masturbation experience when using pornography. Early contact to pornography, frequent pornography use, high amount of time spending on pornography use, and frequent masturbation during pornography use were correlated with addiction trends. Earlier pornography use was found to be associated with lower serum PRL(prolactin), FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and Prog(progesterone) as well as lower sperm concentration and total sperm count. Higher frequent of pornography use was associated with lower serum E2(estrogen). In conclusion, pornography use was common among male college students in China. Early contact, high frequent use, and high frequent of masturbation during pornography use could lead to addiction trends and aberrant reproductive hormone levels and semen quality.

The Impact of Addiction on Academic Performance of Students: the Case of Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia

Preprint

Full-text available

Jul 2021

Background: The high prevalence of substance use and its association with poor academic performance is a global concern today. Objective: The study was conducted to assess the impact of addiction on the academic performance of students in the case of Wolaita Sodo University. Methods: Cross-sectional study was carried out among a total of 421 students selected by using the cluster sampling technique. Data were collected via semistructured questionnaires and interviews and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The results showed that, from the total sample of students, 71.8% of the respondents were involved in addiction while the rest 28.2% were free from any addiction and 73.1% males were more likely to be addicted than females (26.9%). The chi-square result also shows that addiction and academic performance were found to be dependent and addicted students were associated with poor academic achievement than nonaddicted. The regression dummy variable test also showed that the students involved in addiction recorded a lower academic results by 0.587 than addiction free students. Conclusion: Behavioral and physiological addiction to illicit substances and other stimulants is common in Wolaita Sodo University as in other higher education institutions. The common practice of substance use and its association with poor academic performance demand universities to have a good control of the substance and to implement youth friendly activities. The effects of addiction might be better studied through pertinent, vigorous research.

Dependenta sexuala

Book

Full-text available

Jun 2021

Copăceanu Mihai

Această carte despre dependența sexuală corespunde în primul rând unei nevoi sociale urgente. Efectele negative ale ignoranței comportamentului sexual, lipsa educației sexuale din școli, nevoia de cunoaștere și, în funcție de caz, de psihoterapie sunt doar câteva aspecte asupra cărora autorul își propune să atragă atenția în special adolescenților, tinerilor, părinților care își iubesc copiii și doresc să îi înțeleagă. Definirea adicției sexuale ca o tulburare, înțelegerea acestui fenomen bazat pe literatura de specialitate, precum și modul în care aceasta se poate transforma dintr-un obiect al demersului științific în obiect al psihoterapiei sunt câteva din obiectivele atinse pe tot parcursul acestei lucrări. Cuprins: Sexualitatea umană: Repere istorice; Hormonii sexuali și comportamentul sexual; Sistemul nervos și comportamentul sexual; Răspunsul sexual. Adicția umană versus dependența de sex: Definiția conceptului de dependență; Aspecte clinice și diagnostic; Elemente ale istoricului familial; Elemente distinctive ale dependenței de sex; Criterii pentru dependența de substanță; Substratul neurobiologic al dependenței; Rolul prolactinei în sațietatea sexuală; Adicția sexuală și ADHD; Definiția compulsivității. Relația dintre dependență și compulsivitate; Diverse aspecte ale adicției sexuale; Dependența de pornografie. Intervenții terapeutice: Terapia de grup ; Terapia de cuplu/familie; Terapia farmacologică. România, încă rușinea Europei. Ce riscuri implică lipsa educației sexuale în școli: Prostituție, sarcini nedorite la adolescente, agresiuni sexuale, violuri; Cum recunoaștem un pedofil? Soluțiile? Ce pot face părinții? Reacția comunității; Eficiența instituțiilor; Introducerea educației sexuale obligatorii în școli; Tratamentul pedofililor; Iubire pasională și dorință sexuală. Lucrarea semnalează nevoia imediată de cercetare psiho-sociologică pe eşantion naţional în dome-niul sexualităţii, cercetări necesare corpului profesional şi în vederea consilierii, cu temei în cercetare, a factori-lor de decizie social-politică, tema tocmai fiind în dez-batere largă, pornind de la iniţiative legislative. Adicţia sexuală este un obiect încă deliberat în mediul asociaţiilor profesionale, unele care definesc con-duitele profesionale. Este de luat în considerare faptul că în România am avut-şi continuăm să avem-, difi-cultăţi în abordarea publică, extraprofesională, a proble-mei sexualităţii umane. Dominant este modelul eticist, concomitent existând o reală liberalizare a comporta-mentului sexual, dar fără a exista ghidajul adecvat care să permită comprehensiunea realităţii şi importanţa bunei integrări a sexualităţii în persoană, în fiecare etapă a constituirii sale, şi în buna structurare a interpersonali-tăţii şi raporturilor sociale, în acord cu modelul social în edificare, situaţie care comportă risc personal şi social. Comunităţile profesionale au nevoie de o mai atentă aplecare asupra problematicii, în acord cu progresul şti-inţific în discipline de vârf-cum este psihoneurofizio-logia-, asupra cărora autorul insistă. Autorul face parte din generaţia tânără de psihologi-cu formaţie de specialitate în ţară şi în străinătate, în mod special în spaţiul anglo-saxon-, spaţiu care exce-lează în cercetările ample din teren, începând din seco-lul XX şi până în prezent. Cartea constituie un plus de deschidere a domeniului şi are valoare de informare exactă asupra problemei adicţiei sexuale, utilă specialiş-tilor în demersul de psihodiagnoză diferenţială şi terapie.

El consumo de pornografía en la realidad clínica 2021

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Jun 2021

RESUMEN El consumo de pornografía y sus posibles consecuencias sigue siendo objeto de debate en el ámbito científico. Diversos estudios muestran que puede producir consecuencias perjudiciales en la personas como: facilitar las conductas agresivas en el ámbito sexual, favorecer los estereotipos de género y roles sexuales, tratar a la mujer como un objeto, fomentar la promiscuidad, generar problemas familiares y en el matrimonio y/o producir disfunciones sexuales. En contraposición, existen estudios que indican posibles efectos positivos del consumo de pornografía, como inducir la cercanía en la pareja o aumentar la autoestima sexual. Además, investigaciones recientes, proponen que la pornografía por sí sola no sería suficiente para generar una conducta problemática, sino que serían necesarias otras variables como la presencia de síntomas depresivos o de ansiedad, la baja autoestima, emociones como aburrimiento o susceptibilidad, las necesidades psicológicas básicas no cubiertas, los estilos de apego, las características de personalidad o la incomodidad respecto a la pornografía, lo que explicarían dichas consecuencias. Debido a los resultados inconcluyentes en el ámbito clínico a este respecto se revisan las diversas investigaciones publicadas hasta la fecha y se proponen ámbitos de crecimiento para mejorar el abordaje y comprensión de este fenómeno en la realidad clínica.

Sexual Grounding Therapy: Context, Theory and Practice

Book

Apr 2021

Geoff Lamb

Sexual incentive delay in the scanner: Sexual cue and reward processing, and links to problematic porn consumption and sexual motivation

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2021

Background and aims: The use of pornography, while unproblematic for the majority, can grow into addiction-like behavior which in its extreme form is labeled as compulsive sexual behavioral disorder in the ICD-11 (WHO, 2018). The aim of this study was to investigate the addiction-specific reactivity to cues in order to better understand underlying mechanisms in the development of this disorder. Methods: We have used an optimized Sexual Incentive Delay Task to study brain activity in reward associated brain areas during an anticipation phase (with cues predicting pornographic videos, control videos or no videos) and a corresponding delivery phase in healthy men. Correlations to indicators of problematic pornography use, the time spent on pornography use, and trait sexual motivation were analyzed. Results: The results of 74 men showed that reward-related brain areas (amygdala, dorsal cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, putamen, caudate nucleus, and insula) were significantly more activated by both the pornographic videos and the pornographic cues than by control videos and control cues, respectively. However, we found no relationship between these activations and indicators of problematic pornography use, time spent on pornography use, or with trait sexual motivation. Discussion and conclusions: The activity in reward-related brain areas to both visual sexual stimuli as well as cues indicates that optimization of the Sexual Incentive Delay Task was successful. Presumably, associations between reward-related brain activity and indicators for problematic or pathological pornography use might only occur in samples with increased levels and not in a rather healthy sample used in the present study.

Reduced orbitofrontal cortical thickness in male adolescents with Internet addiction

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2013
BEHAV BRAIN FUNCT

Background The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has consistently been implicated in the pathology of both drug and behavioral addictions. However, no study to date has examined OFC thickness in internet addiction. In the current study, we investigated the existence of differences in cortical thickness of the OFC in adolescents with internet addiction. On the basis of recently proposed theoretical models of addiction, we predicted a reduction of thickness in the OFC of internet addicted individuals. Findings Participants were 15 male adolescents diagnosed as having internet addiction and 15 male healthy comparison subjects. Brain magnetic resonance images were acquired on a 3T MRI and group differences in cortical thickness were analyzed using FreeSurfer. Our results confirmed that male adolescents with internet addiction have significantly decreased cortical thickness in the right lateral OFC (p<0.05). Conclusion This finding supports the view that the OFC alterations in adolescents with internet addiction reflect a shared neurobiological marker of addiction-related disorders in general.

Decreased Functional Brain Connectivity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2013
PLOS ONE

Internet addiction has become increasingly recognized as a mental disorder, though its neurobiological basis is unknown. This study used functional neuroimaging to investigate whole-brain functional connectivity in adolescents diagnosed with internet addiction. Based on neurobiological changes seen in other addiction related disorders, it was predicted that connectivity disruptions in adolescents with internet addiction would be most prominent in cortico-striatal circuitry. Participants were 12 adolescents diagnosed with internet addiction and 11 healthy comparison subjects. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance images were acquired, and group differences in brain functional connectivity were analyzed using the network-based statistic. We also analyzed network topology, testing for between-group differences in key graph-based network measures. Adolescents with internet addiction showed reduced functional connectivity spanning a distributed network. The majority of impaired connections involved cortico-subcortical circuits (∼24% with prefrontal and ∼27% with parietal cortex). Bilateral putamen was the most extensively involved subcortical brain region. No between-group difference was observed in network topological measures, including the clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, or the small-worldness ratio. Internet addiction is associated with a widespread and significant decrease of functional connectivity in cortico-striatal circuits, in the absence of global changes in brain functional network topology.

Processing of primary and secondary rewards: A quantitative meta-analysis and review of human functional neuroimaging studies

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2013

The Internet Sex Screening Test: A comparison of sexual compulsives versus non-sexual compulsives

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2003

This study compared individuals who are sexually compulsive with their non-compulsive counterpart on selected demographic characteristics and online sexual activities through the use of the Internet Sex Screening Test (ISST). Selected demographic variables were compared, as well as seven empirically derived subscales on the ISST. Male (n = 5005) and female (n = 1083) data were analysed separately with a one-way between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results indicated that there were no meaningful differences between the age of offline sexual compulsives and non-sexually compulsive individuals, or the total amount of time they spent online. However, the ratio of total online time to time spent online in pursuit of sexual behaviours was found to be meaningful, since sexual compulsives spent significantly more time engaged in online sexual behaviour than non-sexual compulsives. In addition, scores on all seven subscales of the ISST (online sexual compulsivity, online sexual behaviour-social, online sexual behaviour-isolated, online sexual spending, interest in online sexual material, nonhome computer use for online sexual behaviour, and accessing illegal sexual material) were found to be significantly higher for sexual compulsives than the non-sexually compulsive sample. The limitations of this study are discussed along with implications of the findings.

The German Version of the Internet Addiction Test: A Validation Study

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2012

Reports about excessive Internet use, possibly amounting to an addiction, have increased. Progress with research and treatment of this phenomenon requires valid standardized assessment instruments. A frequently used questionnaire is the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) by Kimberly Young. The 20-item questionnaire is well established in a number of languages, but a German validation was lacking so far. An online (ON) sample (n=1,041, age 24.2±7.2 years, 46.7 percent men) completed an Internet version of the IAT and a student sample (offline [OF] sample, n=841, age: 23.5±3.0 years, 46.8 percent men) filled in a paper/pencil version. The participants also answered questions regarding their Internet use habits. A further sample of 108 students (21.5±2.0 years, 25.7 percent men) completed the questionnaire twice to determine the 14-day retest reliability. The internal consistencies were α=0.91 (ON) and α=0.89 (OF). Item-whole correlations ranged from r=0.23 to r=0.65 (ON) and from r=0.30 to r=0.64 (OF). Two-week retest reliability was rtt=0.83. Factor analyses with Varimax rotation yielded the same two factors in both samples, which explained 46.7 percent (ON) and 42.0 percent (OF) of the variance. The IAT score correlated with the time spent in the Internet in a typical week (ON: r=0.44; OF: r=0.38). The German version of the IAT was shown to have good psychometric properties and a stable two-factorial structure. Correlations with online time were in line with those reported for the IAT in other languages.

Is There “One” DLPFC in Cognitive Action Control? Evidence for Heterogeneity From Co-Activation-Based Parcellation

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2012
CEREB CORTEX

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has consistently been implicated in cognitive control of motor behavior. There is, however, considerable variability in the exact location and extension of these activations across functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments. This poses the question of whether this variability reflects sampling error and spatial uncertainty in fMRI experiments or structural and functional heterogeneity of this region. This study shows that the right DLPFC as observed in 4 different experiments tapping executive action control may be subdivided into 2 distinct subregions-an anterior-ventral and a posterior-dorsal one -based on their whole-brain co-activation patterns across neuroimaging studies. Investigation of task-dependent and task-independent connectivity revealed both clusters to be involved in distinct neural networks. The posterior subregion showed increased connectivity with bilateral intraparietal sulci, whereas the anterior subregion showed increased connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex. Functional characterization with quantitative forward and reverse inferences revealed the anterior network to be more strongly associated with attention and action inhibition processes, whereas the posterior network was more strongly related to action execution and working memory. The present data provide evidence that cognitive action control in the right DLPFC may rely on differentiable neural networks and cognitive functions.

The neural basis of video gaming

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2011

Video game playing is a frequent recreational activity. Previous studies have reported an involvement of dopamine-related ventral striatum. However, structural brain correlates of video game playing have not been investigated. On magnetic resonance imaging scans of 154 14-year-olds, we computed voxel-based morphometry to explore differences between frequent and infrequent video game players. Moreover, we assessed the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task during functional magnetic resonance imaging and the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). We found higher left striatal grey matter volume when comparing frequent against infrequent video game players that was negatively correlated with deliberation time in CGT. Within the same region, we found an activity difference in MID task: frequent compared with infrequent video game players showed enhanced activity during feedback of loss compared with no loss. This activity was likewise negatively correlated with deliberation time. The association of video game playing with higher left ventral striatum volume could reflect altered reward processing and represent adaptive neural plasticity.

Individual Differences in Nucleus Accumbens Activity to Food and Sexual Images Predict Weight Gain and Sexual Behavior

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2012
J NEUROSCI

Failures of self-regulation are common, leading to many of the most vexing problems facing contemporary society, from overeating and obesity to impulsive sexual behavior and STDs. One reason that people may be prone to engaging in unwanted behaviors is heightened sensitivity to cues related to those behaviors; people may overeat because of hyperresponsiveness to food cues, addicts may relapse following exposure to their drug of choice, and some people might engage in impulsive sexual activity because they are easily aroused by erotic stimuli. An open question is the extent to which individual differences in neural cue reactivity relate to actual behavioral outcomes. Here we show that individual differences in human reward-related brain activity in the nucleus accumbens to food and sexual images predict subsequent weight gain and sexual activity 6 months later. These findings suggest that heightened reward responsivity in the brain to food and sexual cues is associated with indulgence in overeating and sexual activity, respectively, and provide evidence for a common neural mechanism associated with appetitive behaviors.

Functional neuroimaging studies of sexual arousal and orgasm in healthy men and women: A review and meta-analysis

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2012

Abnormal White Matter Integrity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder: A Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2012
PLOS ONE

Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is currently becoming a serious mental health issue around the globe. Previous studies regarding IAD were mainly focused on associated psychological examinations. However, there are few studies on brain structure and function about IAD. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate white matter integrity in adolescents with IAD. Seventeen IAD subjects and sixteen healthy controls without IAD participated in this study. Whole brain voxel-wise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) was performed by tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to localize abnormal white matter regions between groups. TBSS demonstrated that IAD had significantly lower FA than controls throughout the brain, including the orbito-frontal white matter, corpus callosum, cingulum, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and corona radiation, internal and external capsules, while exhibiting no areas of higher FA. Volume-of-interest (VOI) analysis was used to detect changes of diffusivity indices in the regions showing FA abnormalities. In most VOIs, FA reductions were caused by an increase in radial diffusivity while no changes in axial diffusivity. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between FA and behavioral measures within the IAD group. Significantly negative correlations were found between FA values in the left genu of the corpus callosum and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, and between FA values in the left external capsule and the Young's Internet addiction scale. Our findings suggest that IAD demonstrated widespread reductions of FA in major white matter pathways and such abnormal white matter structure may be linked to some behavioral impairments. In addition, white matter integrity may serve as a potential new treatment target and FA may be as a qualified biomarker to understand the underlying neural mechanisms of injury or to assess the effectiveness of specific early interventions in IAD.

Review. Neural mechanisms underlying the vulnerability to develop compulsive drug-seeking habits and addiction

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2008
PHILOS T R SOC B

We hypothesize that drug addiction can be viewed as the endpoint of a series of transitions from initial voluntary drug use through the loss of control over this behaviour, such that it becomes habitual and ultimately compulsive. We describe evidence that the switch from controlled to compulsive drug seeking represents a transition at the neural level from prefrontal cortical to striatal control over drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviours as well as a progression from ventral to more dorsal domains of the striatum, mediated by its serially interconnecting dopaminergic circuitry. These neural transitions depend upon the neuroplasticity induced by chronic self-administration of drugs in both cortical and striatal structures, including long-lasting changes that are the consequence of toxic drug effects. We further summarize evidence showing that impulsivity, a spontaneously occurring behavioural tendency in outbred rats that is associated with low dopamine D2/3 receptors in the nucleus accumbens, predicts both the propensity to escalate cocaine intake and the switch to compulsive drug seeking and addiction.

Ersche KD, Barnes A, Jones PS, Morein-Zamir S, Robbins TW, Bullmore ET. Abnormal structure of frontostriatal brain systems is associated with aspects of impulsivity and compulsivity in cocaine dependence. Brain 134(Pt 7): 2013-2024

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2011
BRAIN

A growing body of preclinical evidence indicates that addiction to cocaine is associated with neuroadaptive changes in frontostriatal brain systems. Human studies in cocaine-dependent individuals have shown alterations in brain structure, but it is less clear how these changes may be related to the clinical phenotype of cocaine dependence characterized by impulsive behaviours and compulsive drug-taking. Here we compared self-report, behavioural and structural magnetic resonance imaging data on a relatively large sample of cocaine-dependent individuals (n = 60) with data on healthy volunteers (n = 60); and we investigated the relationships between grey matter volume variation, duration of cocaine use, and measures of impulsivity and compulsivity in the cocaine-dependent group. Cocaine dependence was associated with an extensive system of abnormally decreased grey matter volume in orbitofrontal, cingulate, insular, temporoparietal and cerebellar cortex, and with a more localized increase in grey matter volume in the basal ganglia. Greater duration of cocaine dependence was correlated with greater grey matter volume reduction in orbitofrontal, cingulate and insular cortex. Greater impairment of attentional control was associated with reduced volume in insular cortex and increased volume of caudate nucleus. Greater compulsivity of drug use was associated with reduced volume in orbitofrontal cortex. Cocaine-dependent individuals had abnormal structure of corticostriatal systems, and variability in the extent of anatomical changes in orbitofrontal, insular and striatal structures was related to individual differences in duration of dependence, inattention and compulsivity of cocaine consumption.

Prevalence, Severity, and Correlates of Problematic Sexual Internet Use in Swedish Men and Women

Article

Full-text available

May 2011
ARCH SEX BEHAV

The content and prevalence of problematic Internet sexual use was investigated in a sample of 1,913 Internet-recruited younger Swedish men and women. Five items as part of a larger Internet sexual use study addressed problems associated with it, control, dysphoria, feeling "addicted," and feeling the need for treatment. The resulting scale of Internet sexual problems indicated that 5% of women and 13% of men reported some problems, with 2% of women and 5% of men indicating serious problems across the five items. Of five predictors of problematic use, three were significant: religiosity, having negative experiences with Internet sexual use, and frequency of pornography viewing. The viewing and sharing of pornography was most closely associated with reported problems. Data also suggested that having some very specific pornographic content interests were associated with an increase in reported problems. While these data were limited by the non-random nature of the sample, they suggest that Internet sexual problems are measurable, are a subset of Internet addiction with sexual content, and affect a small but significant proportion of the Internet-using population.

Brain Imaging Studies in Pathological Gambling

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2010
Curr Psychiatr Rep

This article reviews the neuroimaging research on pathological gambling (PG). Because of the similarities between substance dependence and PG, PG research has used paradigms similar to those used in substance use disorder research, focusing on reward and punishment sensitivity, cue reactivity, impulsivity, and decision making. This review shows that PG is consistently associated with blunted mesolimbic-prefrontal cortex activation to nonspecific rewards, whereas these areas show increased activation when exposed to gambling-related stimuli in cue exposure paradigms. Very little is known, and hence more research is needed regarding the neural underpinnings of impulsivity and decision making in PG. This review concludes with a discussion regarding the challenges and new developments in the field of neurobiological gambling research and comments on their implications for the treatment of PG.

DPARSF: a MatLab toolbox for “pipeline” data analysis of resting-state fMRI

Article

Full-text available

May 2010

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has attracted more and more attention because of its effectiveness, simplicity and non-invasiveness in exploration of the intrinsic functional architecture of the human brain. However, user-friendly toolbox for "pipeline" data analysis of resting-state fMRI is still lacking. Based on some functions in Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) and Resting-State fMRI Data Analysis Toolkit (REST), we have developed a MATLAB toolbox called Data Processing Assistant for Resting-State fMRI (DPARSF) for "pipeline" data analysis of resting-state fMRI. After the user arranges the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) files and click a few buttons to set parameters, DPARSF will then give all the preprocessed (slice timing, realign, normalize, smooth) data and results for functional connectivity, regional homogeneity, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), and fractional ALFF. DPARSF can also create a report for excluding subjects with excessive head motion and generate a set of pictures for easily checking the effect of normalization. In addition, users can also use DPARSF to extract time courses from regions of interest.

Addiction, compulsive drug seeking, and the role of frontostriatal mechanisms in regulating inhibitory control

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2010

A principal feature of drug addiction is a reduced ability to regulate control over the desire to procure drugs regardless of the risks involved. Traditional models implicated the neural 'reward' system in providing a neurobiological model of addiction. Newer models however, have expanded on this circuitry to include two separate, but interconnecting systems, the limbic system in the incentive sensitization of drugs, and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in regulating inhibitory control over drug use. Until the recent developments in neuroimaging and brain stimulation techniques, it has been extremely difficult to assess the involvement of the PFC in addiction. In the current review, we explore the involvement of the frontostriatal circuitry in regulating inhibitory control, and suggest how dysregulation of these circuits could be involved in an increased difficulty in ceasing drug use. Following this, we investigate the recent neuropsychological, neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies that explore the presence of these inhibitory deficits, and frontostriatal dysfunctions, across various different substance groups. Further insight into these deficits could contribute to the development of treatment strategies which target these cognitive impairments, and frontostriatal dysfunction, in reducing drug-seeking behaviors.

Quantitative Morphology of the Caudate and Putamen in Patients With Cocaine Dependence

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2001

Deficits in dopaminergic function may contribute to hypertrophy of striatal structures associated with typical neuroleptic treatment. In light of a body of research that has associated chronic cocaine use with extrapyramidal symptoms and striatal dopaminergic depletion, the authors looked for evidence of striatal dysmorphology in patients with chronic cocaine dependence. Caudate, putamen, and total brain volumes were quantified by means of magnetic resonance imaging in 25 cocaine-dependent and 20 healthy subjects. Normalized caudate and putamen volumes were 3.40% and 9.18% larger, respectively, in the cocaine-dependent subjects. These observations suggest that deficits in dopaminergic function associated with cocaine dependence may contribute to striatal hypertrophy.

An Integrative Theory of Prefrontal Cortex Function

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2001

The prefrontal cortex has long been suspected to play an important role in cognitive control, in the ability to orchestrate thought and action in accordance with internal goals. Its neural basis, however, has remained a mystery. Here, we propose that cognitive control stems from the active maintenance of patterns of activity in the prefrontal cortex that represent goals and the means to achieve them. They provide bias signals to other brain structures whose net effect is to guide the flow of activity along neural pathways that establish the proper mappings between inputs, internal states, and outputs needed to perform a given task. We review neurophysiological, neurobiological, neuroimaging, and computational studies that support this theory and discuss its implications as well as further issues to be addressed

The prefrontal cortex—An update: Time is of the essence

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2001
NEURON

Joaquin M Fuster

Monkeys Pay Per View: Adaptive Valuation of Social Images by Rhesus Macaques

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2005
CURR BIOL

Individuals value information that improves decision making. When social interactions complicate the decision process, acquiring information about others should be particularly valuable. In primate societies, kinship, dominance, and reproductive status regulate social interactions and should therefore systematically influence the value of social information, but this has never been demonstrated. Here, we show that monkeys differentially value the opportunity to acquire visual information about particular classes of social images. Male rhesus macaques sacrificed fluid for the opportunity to view female perinea and the faces of high-status monkeys but required fluid overpayment to view the faces of low-status monkeys. Social value was highly consistent across subjects, independent of particular images displayed, and only partially predictive of how long subjects chose to view each image. These data demonstrate that visual orienting decisions reflect the specific social content of visual information and provide the first experimental evidence that monkeys spontaneously discriminate images of others based on social status.

From The Cover: The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2005

During performance of attention-demanding cognitive tasks, certain regions of the brain routinely increase activity, whereas others routinely decrease activity. In this study, we investigate the extent to which this task-related dichotomy is represented intrinsically in the resting human brain through examination of spontaneous fluctuations in the functional MRI blood oxygen level-dependent signal. We identify two diametrically opposed, widely distributed brain networks on the basis of both spontaneous correlations within each network and anticorrelations between networks. One network consists of regions routinely exhibiting task-related activations and the other of regions routinely exhibiting task-related deactivations. This intrinsic organization, featuring the presence of anticorrelated networks in the absence of overt task performance, provides a critical context in which to understand brain function. We suggest that both task-driven neuronal responses and behavior are reflections of this dynamic, ongoing, functional organization of the brain. • functional MRI • functional connectivity • spontaneous activity

The Neural Basis of Addiction: A Pathology of Motivation and Choice

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2005

A primary behavioral pathology in drug addiction is the overpowering motivational strength and decreased ability to control the desire to obtain drugs. In this review the authors explore how advances in neurobiology are approaching an understanding of the cellular and circuitry underpinnings of addiction, and they describe the novel pharmacotherapeutic targets emerging from this understanding. Findings from neuroimaging of addicts are integrated with cellular studies in animal models of drug seeking. While dopamine is critical for acute reward and initiation of addiction, end-stage addiction results primarily from cellular adaptations in anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal glutamatergic projections to the nucleus accumbens. Pathophysiological plasticity in excitatory transmission reduces the capacity of the prefrontal cortex to initiate behaviors in response to biological rewards and to provide executive control over drug seeking. Simultaneously, the prefrontal cortex is hyperresponsive to stimuli predicting drug availability, resulting in supraphysiological glutamatergic drive in the nucleus accumbens, where excitatory synapses have a reduced capacity to regulate neurotransmission. Cellular adaptations in prefrontal glutamatergic innervation of the accumbens promote the compulsive character of drug seeking in addicts by decreasing the value of natural rewards, diminishing cognitive control (choice), and enhancing glutamatergic drive in response to drug-associated stimuli.

Predicting Compulsive Internet Use: It's All about Sex!

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2006

The objective of this research was to assess the predictive power of various Internet applications on the development of compulsive Internet use (CIU). The study has a two-wave longitudinal design with an interval of 1 year. The first measurement contained 447 adult heavy Internet users who used the Internet at least 16 h per week and had Internet access at home for at least 1 year. For the second measurement, all participants were invited again, of whom 229 responded. By means of an online questionnaire, the respondents were asked about the time spent on various Internet applications and CIU. On a cross-sectional basis, gaming and erotica seem the most important Internet applications related to CIU. On a longitudinal basis, spending a lot of time on erotica predicted an increase in CIU 1 year later. The addictive potential of the different applications varies; erotica appears to have the highest potential.

Gender Differences in Pornography Consumption among Young Heterosexual Danish Adults

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2006

Gert Martin Hald

The aims of the study were (1) to investigate gender differences in pornography consumption among Danish adults aged 18-30 and (2) to examine gender differences in situational, interpersonal, and behavioral characteristics of pornography consumption. A national survey study was conducted using a representative sample of 688 young heterosexual Danish adult men and women. The study found large gender differences in prevalence rates of pornography consumption and consumption patterns. Compared to women, men were exposed to pornography at a younger age, consumed more pornography as measured by time and frequency, and used pornography more often during sexual activity on their own. Gender differences in the interpersonal context of use were also evident, with women using pornography more often with a regular sexual partner than men. In turn, men were found to use pornography more often on their own or with friends (non-sexual partners) than women. For both men and women, the usual place of use was home and no significant gender difference was found in this regard. Men and women were found to vary in their preferences in pornographic materials, with men both preferring a wider range of hardcore pornography and less softcore pornography than women. Gender differences in sexual behavioral factors were limited to masturbation patterns with men masturbating more than women. Male gender, higher frequency of masturbation, lower age at first exposure, and younger age were found to account for 48.8% of the total variance of pornography consumption. The results were discussed in relation to the sociocultural environment and evolutionary theory. It is argued that gender differences in social acceptability, adherence to gender stereotypes, traditions of gender sexuality, gender norms, and mating strategies are key factors in understanding gender differences in pornography consumption.

Functional Connectivity in the Motor Cortex of Resting Human Brain Using Echo-Planar Mri

Article

Oct 1995
MAGN RESON MED

An MRI time course of 512 echo-planar images (EPI) in resting human brain obtained every 250 ms reveals fluctuations in signal intensity in each pixel that have a physiologic origin. Regions of the sensorimotor cortex that were activated secondary to hand movement were identified using functional MRI methodology (FMRI). Time courses of low frequency (<0.1 Hz) fluctuations in resting brain were observed to have a high degree of temporal correlation (P < 10−3) within these regions and also with time courses in several other regions that can be associated with motor function. It is concluded that correlation of low frequency fluctuations, which may arise from fluctuations in blood oxygenation or flow, is a manifestation of functional connectivity of the brain.

Murphy K, Birn RM, Handwerker DA, Jones TB, Bandettini PA. The impact of global signal regression on resting state correlations: are anti-correlated networks introduced? Neuroimage 44: 893-905

Article

Feb 2009
NEUROIMAGE

Low-frequency fluctuations in fMRI signal have been used to map several consistent resting state networks in the brain. Using the posterior cingulate cortex as a seed region, functional connectivity analyses have found not only positive correlations in the default mode network but negative correlations in another resting state network related to attentional processes. The interpretation is that the human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anti-correlated functional networks. Global variations of the BOLD signal are often considered nuisance effects and are commonly removed using a general linear model (GLM) technique. This global signal regression method has been shown to introduce negative activation measures in standard fMRI analyses. The topic of this paper is whether such a correction technique could be the cause of anti-correlated resting state networks in functional connectivity analyses. Here we show that, after global signal regression, correlation values to a seed voxel must sum to a negative value. Simulations also show that small phase differences between regions can lead to spurious negative correlation values. A combination breath holding and visual task demonstrates that the relative phase of global and local signals can affect connectivity measures and that, experimentally, global signal regression leads to bell-shaped correlation value distributions, centred on zero. Finally, analyses of negatively correlated networks in resting state data show that global signal regression is most likely the cause of anti-correlations. These results call into question the interpretation of negatively correlated regions in the brain when using global signal regression as an initial processing step.

To use or not to use: Expanding the view on non-addictive psychoactive drug consumption and its implications

Article

Dec 2011
BEHAV BRAIN SCI

Proposing a change to the view on psychoactive drug use in non-addicts touches a sensitive issue because of its potential implications to addiction prevention, therapeutic practice, and drug policy. Commentators raised nine questions that ranged from clarifications, suggested extensions of the model to supporting data previously not regarded, to assumptions on the implications of the model. Here, we take up the suggestions of the commentators to expand the model to behavioral addictions, discuss additional instrumentalization goals, and review the evidence from laboratory animal studies on drug instrumentalization. We consider further the role of sociocultural factors and individual development in the establishment in drug instrumentalization and addiction. Finally, we clarify which implications we think this model may have. We conclude that drug instrumentalization theory can be further applied to other behaviors but will require a sensitive debate when used for drug and addiction policy that directly affects prevention and treatment.

PATHOS A Brief Screening Application for Assessing Sexual Addiction

Article

Aug 2011

: Sexual addiction is estimated to afflict up to 3% to 6% of the population. However, many clinicians lack clear criteria for detecting potential cases. : The present studies were conducted to assess the effectiveness of a brief sexual addiction screening instrument (ie, PATHOS Questionnaire) to correctly classify patients being treated for sex addiction and healthy volunteers. : In study 1, a 6-item questionnaire, which utilizes the mnemonic "PATHOS," was examined in regard to sensitivity and specificity using a sample combining patients being treated for sex addiction and healthy volunteers (970 men/80.2% patients; 938 women/63.8% patients). In study 2, a cross-validation sample of 672 men (93% patients) and 241 women (35.3% patients) completed the PATHOS screener. : Results of receiver operating characteristics analyses in study 1 demonstrated that the PATHOS captured 92.6% of the area under the curve and achieved 88.3% sensitivity and 81.6% specificity for classifying the male sample (n = 963) as patients and healthy subjects using a cutoff score of 3. Similarly, the PATHOS captured 90.2% of the area under the curve and, with a cutoff of 3, achieved 80.9% sensitivity and 87.2% specificity for the female sample (n = 808). In study 2, results of receiver operating characteristics analyses indicated that the PATHOS captured 85.1% of the area under the curve, with sensitivity of 70.7% and specificity of 86.9% for men (cutoff of 3). For women, the PATHOS captured 80.9% of the area under the curve and achieved 69.7% sensitivity and 85.1% specificity with the cutoff of 3. : These studies provide support for the use of the PATHOS as a screening instrument to detect potential sexual addiction cases in clinical settings.

Lifetime cigarette smoking is associated with striatal volume measures

Article

Mar 2011
ADDICT BIOL

Nicotine, the primary addictive component of tobacco, affects the mammalian brain. Smokers' brains have smaller cortical grey matter volumes and/or lower densities compared with non-smokers'. Differences in subcortical structures like the striatum are however, less clear. A high concentration of nicotinic receptors makes the striatum a potential target for nicotine. In addition, striatal nuclei are essential components of the reward/reinforcement pathway involved in addiction. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between striatal nuclei (caudate, putamen and nucleus accumbens area) volumes and lifetime smoking in a large community-based sample of 'young-old' individuals. Brain volumes were measured using a semi-automated method in 315 participants aged 64-70 years who were selected from a larger randomly sampled cohort and who consented to a magnetic resonance imaging scan. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between striatal volumes and cigarette smoking measures while controlling for age, sex, intracranial and total brain volumes and general physical and mental health measures. Greater lifetime use of cigarettes (measured in pack-years) was associated with smaller left nucleus accumbens area volume (P = 0.018) and larger left putamen volume (P = 0.025). Greater putaminal volume was also associated with a lower age at smoking initiation (P = 0.004). In this generally healthy cohort, lifetime use of cigarettes is significantly associated with striatal volume measures. These changes could indicate predisposing factors for nicotine addiction, or an effect of chronic nicotine exposure or a combination of both.

Reduced striatal volume in cocaine-dependent patients

Article

Feb 2011
NEUROIMAGE

Long-term cocaine consumption is associated with brain structural and functional changes. While the animal literature on cocaine use and dependence has traditionally focused on the striatum, previous human studies using voxel-based morphometry have reported reduced volumes of gray matter in several brain areas, but not in the striatum. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was performed with 20 cocaine-dependent patients and 16 healthy age-, education- and intelligence-matched control men. The cocaine-dependent group had lower gray matter volumes in the striatum and right supramarginal gyrus compared to controls. Within the cocaine-dependent group, years of cocaine use were inversely associated with the volume of the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, parahippocampus, posterior cingulate, amygdala, insula, right middle temporal gyrus and cerebellum. These results show that cocaine dependence is associated with reduced gray matter volumes in the target structures of the dopaminergic system. These findings are the first to suggest reduced gray matter in the striatum by means of voxel-based morphometry in human users, thereby linking human results to animal models of addiction. In addition, the relationship between years of use and gray matter volumes in numerous brain regions are consistent with these volume reductions arising as a consequence of the cocaine use.

Common biology of craving across legal and illegal drugs—A quantitative meta-analysis of cue-reactivity brain response

Article

Apr 2011
EUR J NEUROSCI

The present quantitative meta-analysis set out to test whether cue-reactivity responses in humans differ across drugs of abuse and whether these responses constitute the biological basis of drug craving as a core psychopathology of addiction. By means of activation likelihood estimation, we investigated the concurrence of brain regions activated by cue-induced craving paradigms across studies on nicotine, alcohol and cocaine addicts. Furthermore, we analysed the concurrence of brain regions positively correlated with self-reported craving in nicotine and alcohol studies. We found direct overlap between nicotine, alcohol and cocaine cue reactivity in the ventral striatum. In addition, regions of close proximity were observed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; nicotine and cocaine) and amygdala (alcohol, nicotine and cocaine). Brain regions of concurrence in drug cue-reactivity paradigms that overlapped with brain regions of concurrence in self-reported craving correlations were found in the ACC, ventral striatum and right pallidum (for alcohol). This first quantitative meta-analysis on drug cue reactivity identifies brain regions underlying nicotine, alcohol and cocaine dependency, i.e. the ventral striatum. The ACC, right pallidum and ventral striatum were related to drug cue reactivity as well as self-reported craving, suggesting that this set of brain regions constitutes the core circuit of drug craving in nicotine and alcohol addiction.

Frequent users of pornography. A population based epidemiological study of Swedish male adolescents

Article

Sep 2010
J ADOLESCENCE

Frequent use of pornography has not been sufficiently studied before. In a Swedish survey 2015 male students aged 18 years participated. A group of frequent users of pornography (N = 200, 10.5%) were studied with respect to background and psychosocial correlates. The frequent users had a more positive attitude to pornography, were more often "turned on" viewing pornography and viewed more often advanced forms of pornography. Frequent use was also associated with many problem behaviours. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that frequent users of pornography were more likely to be living in a large city, consuming alcohol more often, having greater sexual desire and had more often sold sex than other boys of the same age. High frequent viewing of pornography may be seen as a problematic behaviour that needs more attention from both parents and teachers and also to be addressed in clinical interviews.

The endocannabinoid system and nondrug rewarding behaviours

Article

Mar 2010
EXP NEUROL

Rewarding behaviours such as sexual activity, eating, nursing, parenting, social interactions, and play activity are conserved strongly in evolution, and they are essential for development and survival. All of these behaviours are enjoyable and represent pleasant experiences with a high reward value. Remarkably, rewarding behaviours activate the same brain circuits that mediate the positive reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse and of other forms of addiction, such as gambling and food addiction. Given the involvement of the endocannabinoid system in a variety of physiological functions of the nervous system, it is not surprising that it takes part in the complex machinery that regulates gratification and perception of pleasure. In this review, we focus first on the role of the endocannabinoid system in the modulation of neural activity and synaptic functions in brain regions that are involved in natural and nonnatural rewards (namely, the ventral tegmental area, striatum, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex). Then, we examine the role of the endocannabinoid system in modulating behaviours that directly or indirectly activate these brain reward pathways. More specifically, current knowledge of the effects of the pharmacological manipulation of the endocannabinoid system on natural (eating, sexual behaviour, parenting, and social play) and pathological (gambling) rewarding behaviours is summarised and discussed.

The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI-KID): Validity and reliability