Your Brain on Porn

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Start here for a brief overview of concepts & science

This article is a short synopsis of some key concepts. For the science behind it, please follow all the links and read this page. Some links go to our articles, which in turn link to studies. For a more in-depth understanding and further evidence see The Research Page. For specific content explore Porn FAQs.

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What happens when you drop a male rat into a cage with a receptive female rat? First, you see a frenzy of copulation. Then, progressively, the male tires of that particular female. Even if she wants more, he has had enough. However, replace the original female with a fresh one, and the male immediately revives and gallantly struggles to fertilize her. You can repeat this process with fresh females until he is completely wiped out.

This is called the Coolidge effect—the automatic response to novel mates. Interestingly, men ejaculate more motile sperm and they do it more quickly when they view a novel porn star. This powerful automatic response to erotic novelty is what started you down the road to getting hooked on internet porn.

Studies linking porn use or porn/sex addiction to sexual dysfunctions, lower brain activation to sexual stimuli, and lower sexual satisfaction

Reality Check - Regardless of what you may read in some journalistic accounts, multiple studies reveal a link between porn use and sexual performance problems, relationship and sexual dissatisfaction, and reduced brain activation to sexual stimuli.

Let's start with sexual dysfunctions. All studies assessing young male sexuality since 2010 report historic levels of sexual dysfunctions, and startling rates of a new scourge: low libido. Documented in this article.

Brain Studies on Porn Users

This page lists all the studies assessing the brain structure and functioning of Internet porn users. To date every study offers support for the porn addiction model. The results of these 26 studies (and upcoming studies) are consistent with 160+ Internet addiction brain studies, many of which also include internet porn use. All support the premise that internet porn use can cause addiction-related brain changes, as do 9 recent neuroscience-based reviews of the literature:

Gary's TEDx talk - "The Great Porn Experiment"

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Got the job, was complimented for my looks for the first time

Benefits From Hard Mode Only

  • Day 5-7: Depending on how often you engaged in PMO before your streak, brain fog usually disappears.
  • Everyday: Depending on how often you engaged in PMO before your streak, the mental perception of your body becomes much more positive each day.

Video - 90 days Nofap & No Porn by mack_attack

Nofap || 90 days of no Porn

By - mack_attack

I'm done with Porn for good

I started my first ever 90 day challenge 183 days ago with the goal to see are there really any benefits and what sort of impact it would have on my everyday life. I've got to say it was an interesting 90 days.

I got accepted into college

I finally got accepted into college. I got the grades I needed and couldn't be happier. The only thing that held me together during my exam period was NoFap. I was not as strong as now, keeping few day streaks going, but it got me calm and collective enough to toughen up and answer as much as I could.