Porn viewing not harmful as other addictions: Study

Watching porn is not an addiction like substance abuse and viewers do not elicit the same neurological responses as other addicts, a study has revealed.

"The findings provide clear evidence that porn does not look like other addictions," said sexual psycho-physiologist and lead researcher Nicole Prause.

Prause and her colleagues examined 122 men and women, 55 of whom reported a "porn problem".

The volunteers viewed photos categorised as pleasant, neutral and unpleasant, RT.com reported.

Half of the pleasant photos were erotic.

The team focused on "late positive potential" (LPP), a common measure for the intensity of the brain's emotional response at a given moment.

They found that "porn addicts" showed a lower -- and not higher -- "late positive potential" when viewing sexually explicit images.

"The size of the 'late positive potential' reflects the intensity of an emotional response," added co-author Dean Sabatinelli, associate professor at the University of Georgia.

In general, LPP intensifies in nicotine or cocaine addicts.

Those who said they had experienced "major problems" with porn usage "showed decreased brain reactions when shown the sexual images".

The research was published in the journal Biological Psychology.