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.