RESEARCH EVIDENCE MODERATE EVIDENCE Neuroimaging study Tier 2 — Peer-reviewed study / review

Modulation of late positive potentials by sexual images in problem users and controls inconsistent with 'porn addiction'

Authors: Prause, N., Steele, V. R., Staley, C., Sabatinelli, D., & Hajcak, G.
Year: 2015
Journal: Biological Psychology
Type: Cross-sectional study
Population: Men and women reporting problems regulating pornography viewing
Sample size: 55 problem users
Method: EEG (late positive potential) study
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26095441/
Last verified: 2026-10-04

Main question

Do people with self-reported porn problems show an addiction-like neural response?

Summary

Prause and colleagues (2015) measured an EEG signal (the late positive potential) while people with self-reported pornography problems viewed sexual images. They found no addiction-like amplified response, and argued the results are inconsistent with a “porn addiction” model.

Why it matters

This study is important for the behavioural addiction debate because it provides a skeptical data point. It has itself been criticized, and its interpretation remains contested. It is included here to represent both sides of the neural cue reactivity question honestly.

Findings

Found that people who reported problems with pornography did not show the amplified neural response to sexual images that an addiction model would predict.
Interpreted the results as inconsistent with a 'porn addiction' framing.

What this study can support

Provides a skeptical data point against "porn addiction".

What it cannot establish

Causal conclusions beyond the study design; generalizations to populations, behaviors, or contexts outside the sample; and any claim not directly measured.

Limitations

Small sample size.
Interpretation is contested; the study has been criticized on methodological and conceptual grounds.
A single EEG measure (late positive potential) cannot settle a complex classification question.
verification needed (DOI/PMID not recorded)

Clinical relevance