title: Ventral striatum activity when watching preferred pornographic pictures is correlated with symptoms of Internet pornography addiction.
abstract: One type of Internet addiction is excessive pornography consumption, also referred to as cybersex or Internet pornography addiction. Neuroimaging studies found ventral striatum activity when participants watched explicit sexual stimuli compared to non-explicit sexual/erotic material. We now hypothesized that the ventral striatum should respond to preferred pornographic compared to non-preferred pornographic pictures and that the ventral striatum activity in this contrast should be correlated with subjective symptoms of Internet pornography addiction. We studied 19 heterosexual male participants with a picture paradigm including preferred and non-preferred pornographic materials. Subjects had to evaluate each picture with respect to arousal, unpleasantness, and closeness to ideal. Pictures from the preferred category were rated as more arousing, less unpleasant, and closer to ideal. Ventral striatum response was stronger for the preferred condition compared to non-preferred pictures. Ventral striatum activity in this contrast was correlated with the self-reported symptoms of Internet pornography addiction. The subjective symptom severity was also the only significant predictor in a regression analysis with ventral striatum response as dependent variable and subjective symptoms of Internet pornography addiction, general sexual excitability, hypersexual behavior, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, and sexual behavior in the last days as predictors. The results support the role for the ventral striatum in processing reward anticipation and gratification linked to subjectively preferred pornographic material. Mechanisms for reward anticipation in ventral striatum may contribute to a neural explanation of why individuals with certain preferences and sexual fantasies are at-risk for losing their control over Internet pornography consumption.
authors.affiliation: General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany; Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Kokereiallee 7, 45141 Essen, Germany. Electronic address: matthias.brand@uni-due.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.affiliation: General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snagowski
authors.affiliation: General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laier
authors.affiliation: Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Kokereiallee 7, 45141 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maderwald
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020407:Internet; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012201:Reward; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D066328:Ventral Striatum / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cybersex; Gratification processing; Pornography; Reward anticipation; Ventral striatum