Brain & Behavorial Science: Must-Reads for the PA

[Daniel]

Sexual Superabundance II
(edited for TTF by Daniel)

It would be great if scientists would do research that shows how long brains need to bounce back from too much stimulation via fattening food and extreme sexual stimuli.

What happens when you drop a male rat into a cage with a receptive female rat? First you see a frenzy of copulation. Gradually, the male's enthusiasm wanes and, finally, he goes off to take a well-earned nap. He is sexually satiated. It will take 15 days for him to recover his full libido—that is, for his brain chemistry to return to homeostasis (equilibrium). There is one way to override any sluggishness, however: supply a novel female.

What about porn users in search of the next novel image, and today's revolving door marriages?

Whether you act on your impulses or not, your genetic programming is acting on you.

Where is this program pushing us these days? Not only where our genes want us to go, but often beyond, into empty compulsion.

Internet porn is an extreme superstimulus. It's on tap twenty-four/seven, free of social constraints, and every click supplies a "novel mate" beckoning to be serviced.

Chasing after today's potent array of superstimulation can easily overload our vulnerable reward circuitry. Without realizing why, we may begin to experience withdrawal symptoms, cravings for even more frequent stimulation, and, sometimes, enduring brain changes.

The more extreme the stimulation (whatever our individual thresholds), the more dopamine surges in our reward circuitry. And the lower it drops afterward (or the less sensitive we are to it, due to down regulation of nerve cell receptors).

Dopamine balance matters. For example, high dopamine is associated with compulsions, anxiety, risky behavior, and so forth, while low dopamine is associated with conditions like social anxiety, depression, inability to feel pleasure, and lack of ambition.

Most of us learn about the high-leads-to-hangover cycle fairly early by drinking too much alcohol.

So why are we so likely to reach for short-lived, intense stimulation even when it begins to set off neurochemical hangovers?

Usually because we aren't getting enough of the other rewards our brain finds gratifying.

Many of us have lost a lot of the comfort of close companionship that our ancestors enjoyed. We don't live in tribes, and our extended family may be far away. We spend way more hours staring at monitors than engaging in friendly human interaction. Our brain's primitive limbic system is starved for the healthy rewards that come from companionship and touch, which makes us more susceptible to overindulging, addictions, and compulsions.

Let's say we choose to comfort ourselves with a big dose of today's super-sexy stimulation. After dopamine soars in response to extreme stimulation, it drops unnaturally low. Withdrawal symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, frustration, desire for isolation, and apathy are signals that we're not yet back to equilibrium at a brain chemical level.

So why the massive libido?

During recovery, we may feel uneasy or depressed, as if some key ingredient for our happiness is missing. As a consequence, we're very susceptible to cues our brain associates with rapid relief from discomfort. When we spot one, our reward circuitry starts yapping and bouncing around like a crazed Jack Russell terrier.

Surging dopamine is hard to ignore, so we want to "feed it," just to shut it up. Yet if we climax now, we can easily fall into an accelerating cycle, medicating ourselves with more stimulation every time we get The Urge.

Strapped onto this roller coaster of peaks and drops, we may forget entirely what balance feels like.

Unfortunately, we have to go all the way through the misery of withdrawal to experience balance again. There are no shortcuts, and if we're seriously hooked, we may need longer, due to more lasting changes in the brain. For example, a protein known as Delta FosB remains in addicts' brains for a month or two, making relapse more likely.

"Too much of a good thing . . . is even better!" said the witty Ms. Mae West. However, too much intense stimulation of the reward circuitry is not better. It's worse.

The risk is ending up on a high-speed treadmill, trying to stay ahead of withdrawal symptoms.

As our sensitivity to dopamine decreases, we may need more and more stimulation to feel good, even briefly.

In contrast with our ancestors' frugal lifestyles, our lifestyle doesn't protect us from overindulgence.

Too much stimulation, followed by frequent lows, means we are sometimes riddled with unusually intense cravings for relief. When we're out of balance, we're voracious consumers, but less satisfied humans. Our recurring, urgent sense of lack heavily influences the choices we make-without our conscious awareness.

Once we recognize the vulnerability of our reward circuitry in the face of today's superabundance, we can see the real challenge before us. It is to get our dopamine levels back in balance and keep them there. Then we can enjoy the occasional indulgence without falling into an uncomfortable cycle of highs and lows.

Balanced dopamine is associated with feelings of well-being and satisfaction, pleasure in accomplishing tasks, healthy libido, good feelings toward others, motivation, optimism, sound choices, healthy risk-taking, realistic expectations and healthy bonds with others. Ahhh!

blogged by Marnia Robinson

© Copyright 1991-2010
Sussex Publishers, LLC

[Daniel]

Protect Your Appetite for Pleasure (Part I)
(edited for TTF by Daniel)

In a recent post (Intoxicating Behaviors), I suggested that today's super-enticing fattening food and hyper-stimulating sexual videos could numb most brains' pleasure response if their owners overdo it enough. This past week, new research confirmed that too much stimulation indeed progressively numbs the brains of people who engage in it, decreasing their satisfaction. It also points to a way out.


Over six months, the brains of women who ate more fattening foods changed. They showed less response to pleasure (than those who didn't gain), which made the women more apt to overeat. In effect, the brain changes eroded their self-control, setting them on a downward spiral. Said lead researcher Eric Stice,


This is the first prospective evidence to show that the overeating itself further blunts the award [sic] circuitry. The weakened responsivity of the reward circuitry increases the risk for future weight gain in a feed-forward manner.


Human appetite for both food and sex is heavily influenced by the number of dopamine (D2) receptors in the striatum of the reward circuitry. When receptors drop after too much of a good thing, the brain doesn't respond as much, and we feel less reward from pleasure for a time. (See before-and-after scans of dopamine receptors, above.) That drives us to search even harder for feelings of satisfaction—for example, by seeking out more stimulating food or more extreme sexual stimuli, thus further numbing the brain. The repercussions of this decreasing sensitivity go well beyond calories and climaxes, and show up as all kinds of unwanted symptoms:

If we have enough [neurotransmitters that regulate the reward circuitry], our emotions are stable. When they are depleted, or out of balance, what we call "pseudo-emotions" can result. These false moods can be every bit as distressing as those triggered by abuse, loss or trauma. They can drive us to [binge].—Julia Ross, nutritional psychotherapist

The natural downward spiral of brain sensitivity in response to excess explains why appetite pathologies typically take a chronic course and are resistant to treatment. But the new research also indirectly hints at the way to reverse the unhelpful brain changes: stop the behavior that's causing them as soon as possible, without waiting until it crosses the line into obesity or hypersexuality.

If ongoing excess alters the brain, making control increasingly difficult, then abstaining from the problematic behavior gradually restores the sensitivity of the brain, or at least substantially improves it. I often observe this turnaround in heavy porn users who give their brains a rest by avoiding porn and cutting way back on masturbation for a month or two.

The withdrawal misery can be grim while their brains are desperate for stimulation, but it's evident from their self-reports that their brains soon become more sensitive. They notice improvements in many areas: sexual responsiveness, optimism, eagerness to approach prospective mates, reduced anxiety, and so forth. They are amazed at how far-reaching are the changes that stem from restoring the natural sensitivity of their brains.

Once they understand that restoring reward-circuitry sensitivity is the target, they gain a comforting sense of direction. They can match mood changes and other symptoms with their actions (or inaction). They begin to recognize the discomfort and cravings they can expect following intense stimulation. They figure out what best eases that discomfort, and how long it usually takes them to return to balance. Knowing the hidden costs of too much stimulation, they can choose to indulge consciously or opt for the benefits of less intense stimulation.

In short, they fully understand the addictive spiral and how to manage it. Once they are back in the driver's seat, their confidence and optimism return. Said one:

Considering the big picture, you are not actually getting that much from porn. It's not even happiness. It's something that you may seem to need badly, not to be able to resist, but it's harmful. The rational brain can logically override the reward circuitry signals so this issue can be overcome.



Continued in Part II

blogged by Marnia Robinson

© Copyright 1991-2010
Sussex Publishers, LLC

[Daniel]

Protect Your Appetite for Pleasure (Part II)
(edited for TTF by Daniel)

It would be great if scientists would do research that shows how long brains need to bounce back from too much stimulation via fattening food and extreme sexual stimuli.

Already we know it is about 14 days before adenosine receptors return to their normal number following cessation of caffeine consumption. When we know how long the cravings and moodiness will linger, we can more easily muster the willpower to outlast them. Meanwhile, we can make our own experiments to discover what it takes to restore brain sensitivity and escape the downward spiral.

To be sure, we are all on a continuum when it comes to brain sensitivity and recovery time. Some brains arrive on the planet more vulnerable due to fewer dopamine receptors in key parts of the reward circuitry. Trauma, stress, loneliness, or pharmaceuticals dysregulate other brains. Yet even normal brains are at risk for increased dissatisfaction from over-stimulation.

Indeed, two-thirds of us are now overweight and 17% of Internet porn users are already showing signs of compulsive behavior. The tendency to grab for enticing food and sexual cues isn't pathological, or even a handicap. It's normal.

[Daniel says: our experience at TTF would disagree in the strongest possible terms with the statement ‘grabbing for P’ is normal or OK in moderation; people who believe this statement are 1) ignorant of the issues, or 2) in denial of the magnitude of the problem of PA to society at large and the persons affected].

The good news is that we can each slide up and down the continuum, at least to some degree, by altering our behavior. The longer we have been binging, the longer it takes most of us to restore our normal brain sensitivity. Yet many achieve it.

Unfortunately, the workings of this primitive appetite mechanism in the brain aren't yet common knowledge. As a consequence, many of us assume that we can't be over-stimulated by extreme versions of sex or food, and that only abnormal people become obese or hypersexual. By understanding how behavior and brain sensitivity actually interact, we may be able to avoid sliding into pathology.

It's up to us

Our brains are set by our genetic make-up. Our environment is flooded with synthetically enhanced goodies marketed by powerful economic interests beyond our control. That leaves behavior as our best option for protecting (or restoring) the sensitivity and health of our brains. If we don't consciously steer, many of us are wired to get caught in a downward spiral.

Fortunately, we humans have a lot more control over the sensitivity of our brains than has been acknowledged. This new research makes it evident that behavior matters.

blogged by Marnia Robinson

© Copyright 1991-2010
Sussex Publishers, LLC

[Deelmo]

And the saddest part of all is that we are taught that stupid "it's all about me!) mentally. If we can shift from the "me, me, me" to "It's all about serving and pleasing others", then maybe we can make progress as human beings. IMHO

[no_excuses]

This is fantastic information. Thanks, Daniel, for taking the time to post it!