Scientists probe 'sex addict' brains
The first study to investigate brain activity in "sex addicts" has uncovered remarkable similarities with people addicted to drugs.
There is some controversy about whether people can become addicted to sexual behaviours, including watching porn.
University of Cambridge researchers performed brain scans on 19 men watching pornographic videos.
They showed the same reward centres of the brain were activated as when addicts see their drug of choice.
Two of the men in the study had lost jobs through watching pornographic material at work.
Four of them say porn was a gateway drug to escort agencies and fetishes.
They were all obsessed with sexual thoughts and behaviour, but it is uncertain that they are "addicts" in the same way as a smoker is addicted to nicotine.
Some researchers argue their traits more closely resemble an impulse control or obsessive compulsive disorder.
A team of researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe the changes in brain activity caused by watching pornographic videos.
They compared the brains of people with compulsive sexual behaviour and healthy people.
The results, published in the journal PLoS One, showed higher levels of brain activity in the three parts of the the brain: the ventral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate and the amygdala.
These are all areas that become excited in addicts when they see their drug of choice.
Dr Valerie Voon, from the University of Cambridge, told the BBC: "This is the first study to look at people suffering from these disorders and look at their brain activity, but I don't think we understand enough right now to say it is clearly an addiction.
"We don't know if some of these effects are predispositions, meaning that if you have greater activity in these areas are you more likely to develop these behaviours or if it is an effect of the pornography itself - it's very difficult to tell."
She added that the earlier people were exposed to drugs the more likely they were to develop into addicts.
However, Dr Voon cautioned there was insufficient evidence to advise on the impact of teenagers watching porn on the internet.
She told the BBC News website: "What I'm seeing is increasing numbers of young men who cannot maintain an erection because they've wrecked their appetite with pornography, their arousal threshold goes up so a mere mortal doesn't do it anymore.
(continued, sex addiction? where would you be without that Mr White-Coat Scientist? It might be you and not them at fault, not everyone has a fetish for female Spocks? )
