 Bad lighting, bad acting, bad dialogue, awful music, and lots of sex. Pornography can be a very sensitive subject since there are many different opinions about it. Whether you like it or hate it, we can all agree that watching pornography, like anyone else, has an effect on your brain. But what does watching porn do? And how often do you need to watch for effects to take place? Let's dive into the world of science to explain what pornography does to your brain. Effect of Availability When you think of porn, you might go right to the 70s with the shag carpets and pizza boy plotlines. But when we think of porn, the word taboo comes to mind. The fact that you watched porn used to be something that was looked down upon and never spoke enough. You know, like saying Voldemort's name. Shoot, I said it. Nowadays it's much less of an elephant in the room. With the rise of the internet, pornography, like most everything else, became much more available. In his 2002 book, Striptease Culture, Brian McNair states about half of all internet activity is sex-related. Fast forward to 2004, MSNBC and L Magazine did a study regarding pornography where, out of 15,246 participants, 75% of the men and 41% of the women stated they had downloaded pornography via the internet. In the 2008 book, The Porning of America, they explained this phenomenon. Once porn became available, on demand, and it didn't risk a computer virus with every third click, more escalated topics were searched and more people watched porn in general. Less problems, more pleasure. When smartphones came out, teenagers jumped on the bandwagon and boosted the numbers once It's a mobile computer that can be taken out of adult supervision range. Kind of the perfect storm if you think about it. Effect on the brain In a study done by researcher and author Barry Gunter, he found that teen males were more interested in more erotic types of pornography and wished they could experience it for real. It was also found that if the participant had a more positive or accepting opinion of pornography, they would be more often aroused when watching. Well, duh. I don't think that we needed a study to tell us that last part. Anyway, Patrick Fagan Ph.D. Compiled research on the effect of pornography on married individuals with families. Through his research, Fagan found that pornography can change someone's opinion or perception of what sex is. He also noted that males who regularly watched pornography had a higher tolerance for some fun and weird stuff in the bedroom. We see you, Christian Gray. They also may have a higher tolerance for seeing someone as an object rather than a person with value. Effects of addiction Like anything else, too much of a good thing can have negative effects, so moderation is key. Look, chocolate cake is amazing, but you can't have a slice of decadent, sugary chocolate cake every day. Eventually, that can catch up with our physical health and bodies. The same thing can happen with your mind. In 2015, a group of researchers stated, frequent pornography exposure hasn't been fully studied, so there may be a lot more to the picture than what we know now. In 2011, Donald Hilton Jr. and Clark Watts did a study on pornography addiction. They found that the brain activity produced by cocaine addiction was identical to brain activity from pornography addiction. A similar study was done in 2004 with methamphetamines and had similar findings, so your aunt with a shopping addiction who's always ordering off Amazon or home shopping networks all at the same time, her brain might look a little something like this, too. It's not all bad. We know that there's limited information on the subject, and the majority of it sounds really awful. So Gary Wilson came out in 2016 to remind us that we can't just say, oh, you watch porn, you see people as objects, and are a trash human. No, no, no, pump the brakes, baby cakes. We found that the times we saw more extreme negative effects from pornography overuse, that the same person also showed evidence and indications of mental illness, so there may have been other reasons as to why this person justified negative sexual preferences with pornography. Also, in 2016, another study was done regarding acceptance of pornography in marriages. So for the rest of us, how do you feel about your spouse watching porn? In this study, it was found that the majority of the couples didn't mind their spouse watching porn when they both engaged. Maybe not necessarily in the same room at the same time, but you get it. Specifically, wives in the study felt positively towards pornography, as it's a way for them to gauge sexual satisfaction. You see something you like, you try it out, might be a good time. Pornography can still be a sensitive subject to some. But to others, it may be a part of their relationship or their self-care routine. No matter what our experience or relationship with porn is, one thing is for certain. If we consume it, it can affect our brain in some way. Have you noticed any changes in yourself after watching porn? Has watching pornography helped your relationship? Let us know in the comments below. As always, keep an eye on Cy for more Psych2Go content. See you next time. The studies and references used in and to create this video are listed below.