What is it about pornography that makes it so appealing to so many men? As a biopsychologist and person of faith, I have felt convicted to respond to the pornification of our culture. As I have studied how the brain develops, how hormones and culture affect it and how addictions and compulsions develop, it has become increasingly apparent to me why many men struggle so much.

Many excellent books have been written by Christian authors who address porn in terms of lust and sexual sin. Many of these authors rightly frame pornography as a spiritual matter; but pornography is also a physical matter, rooted in the biological intricacies of our sexual design.

In order to move to the next stage of dealing with pornography, cybersex addictions and sexual compulsions, we need to find healthy ways to train the male brain to understand and act on its sexual nature. Pornography taps into many men’s wrong thinking about themselves, in places where their brains are most vulnerable to exploitation; but as we appreciate the reality of our sexuality and place it within the biblical narrative, we will see hope for redemption.

Your Brain on Porn
Do you have an HDTV? If so, you know it doesn’t do much good unless your set receives HD signals. It’s the same with pornography, which has a similar effect on men due to the uniqueness of our ability to pick up the signal, receive it and experience it.

Pornographic images are inherently different from other signals. Images of nudity or sexual intercourse are distinct, different from what we experience as part of our everyday visual experience. They are analogous to the HD signal. The male brain is built like an ideal pornography receiver, wired to be on the alert for these images of nakedness. The male brain and our conscious visual experience is the internal monitor where we perceive them. The images of sexuality grab our attention, jumping out and hypnotizing a man like an HD television among a sea of standard televisions.

Male brains can be very different from the female brain. Although neither superior nor inferior, they are very different in the way they detect stimuli, process information and respond to emotions. This is important because men detect sexual cues rapidly when it comes to nakedness or sex-related stimuli. Men seem to be more sensitive to visual cues for sexual arousal.

As men fall deeper into the mental habit of fixating on these images, the exposure to them creates neural pathways. Like a path is created in the woods with each successive hiker, so do the neural paths set the course for the next time an erotic image is viewed. In time, these neural paths become wider as they repeatedly are traveled with each exposure to pornography. They become the automatic pathway through which interactions with women are routed. All women become potential porn stars in the minds of these men. They unknowingly have created a neurological circuit that imprisons their ability to see women rightly — as created in God’s image.

Repeated exposure to pornography creates a one-way neurological superhighway where a man’s mental life is over-sexualized and narrowed. This neurological superhighway has been reconstructed and built for speed, able to get rapidly to the climax of sexual stimulation; but it is intended for the slow discovery and appreciation of a loving partner. The pornography-built pathway has only a few off-ramps, leading to sexual encounters that have only a fleeting impact and hasten the need for more. However, these encounters were intended to be long-lasting and satisfying for both partners and have many off ramps for creative expressions of intimacy that are not genitally oriented.

Fascinated by the Brain
Today, our culture is fascinated by psychology and “pleasure centers” of the brain. Underneath our fascination is a sense that what is going on inside our brain is fundamental to our psychological experience. For some, this knowledge is a relief. Understanding depression, an anxiety disorder, obesity or addiction as something that is part of how they are put together biologically can be extraordinarily helpful. It may explain the difficulty they have experienced in dealing with their emotions, breaking destructive habits or failing. For others, that same knowledge might lead to a fatalist view of themselves.

Because the human brain, the source of our mental life, is such a remarkable organ, it is important to have a good understanding of how it operates. When we understand how the brain is flexible and plastic, as well as how it is unyielding and rigid, we can see not only how pornography can lead a person to a place of mental depravity, but also how hope for redemption and sanctification can be achieved.

Here’s what happens when pornography is consumed.

The eye picks up the visual signal and sends a neural signal to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), which sorts out the visual signals coming in from the eye and prepares them for more complex processing. This signal is then relayed to the visual cortex found in the occipital lobe at the back of the head. From here, the basics of the stimulus are then processed (What is the stimulus, and where is it in the environment?). Here is where things get interesting.

Men viewing a nude woman spend more time looking at her body and less time at her face. The focus is on her body parts. She is an object to be viewed and consumed.

There appears to be a difference when men look at a naked woman versus a couple engaging in intercourse. Contrary to popular belief, men do not focus just on a woman’s body parts when they view heterosexual intercourse. When viewing sexual intercourse, men still spend a significant amount of time looking at the woman’s body, but they also spend time examining the woman’s face, presumably looking for her response to the sexual act. Men are more preoccupied with a woman’s sexual arousal than they are given credit for.

The visual cortex and its primary outputs are more active in men than in women when they view pornography. There is an increase in hypothalamic activity and a likely release of dopamine fueling the salience of the sexual signals. The insular cortex has many connections to limbic regions, has been identified as a center for bodily representation and provides the context for subjective emotional experiences. Increases in insular cortex activity are seen in men when they are exposed to pornographic material. It is where some of the craving and preoccupation with sexual arousal reside (likely fueled by dopamine release).

When men view pornography, they experience increased anxiety and tension, resulting in an increase in amygdala activity. Men also show an increase in amygdala activity when shown statements suggesting sexual infidelity by their girlfriends. Sexual arousal and intimate sexual relationships appear to supercharge the male amygdala.

Several brain regions in men are affected by stimulation of the penis and orgasm. Some areas of the brain are responsible for the release of dopamine and the psychological experience of euphoria and transcendence.

Brains, Bodies and Souls
Knowledge about our biological nature is not an excuse for sin: “My brain made me do it,” or “Porn has messed up my brain, so I can’t help myself” are not get-out-of-jail-free cards. We are still responsible for our actions.

As a man cultivates patterns of depravity, he diminishes his ability to bear God’s image rightly. The knowledge that we get from Scripture and science should not be used to deny, justify, rationalize, minimize, normalize or celebrate the exercising of brokenness. It should be used to show compassion for those who have been propelled by the needs and design of their created nature down the path of depravity.

Rather than blame the needs, we should look at the process by which these needs drove us to depravity. These very same needs, however, can be reclaimed and redirected to travel the path of sanctification and holiness.

How does a man become “addicted to holiness”? How does he cultivate his embodied nature to embrace sanctification? Many of the principles that govern all of spiritual formation have their impact in the brain. We can reframe recovery from pornography, sex addictions and compulsions as processes of rewiring, redemption and sanctification.

The process of sanctification is an addiction to holiness, a compulsive fixation on Christ and an impulsive pattern of compassion, virtue and love. This is what we are wired for. This is what we are meant for.