A new study of more than 20,000 young men has found that excessive use of video games and pornography is actually beginning to change the structure of mens’ brains.

The International Business Times is reporting on the study led by Philip Zimbardo, Psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University, who took an in depth look at the lives of 20,000 young men and their relationships with video games and pornography.

"Our focus is on young men who play video games to excess, and do it in social isolation - they are alone in their room,” Zimbardo said, and found that "Now, with freely available pornography, which is unique in history, they are combining playing video games, and as a break, watching on average, two hours of pornography a week."

This has led to a typical mindset in these young men: "When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft. When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected." Click here to read this article.

This phenomenon is creating a “new form of addiction” to both excessive use of pornography and video games which is beginning to change the actual structure of their brains.

In his new book, Men (Dis)Connected: How Technology has Sabotaged What It Means to Be Male, he details this crisis and says the excessive use of the stimuli of pornography and video games “begins to change the reward center of the brain, and produces a kind of excitement and addiction."

He cites several contributing factors to this growing crisis among men, such as how too many boys are being brought up in single parent homes with no father figure in their life.

"Fathers give love provisionally. If you want your allowance, if you don't want me to turn off your computer, then you've got to perform,” he told The Guardian in an interview. “That's always been the deal with fathers and sons – you don't get a pass just because you exist, just because you got my name on your birth certificate. You're going to do it because you want your father to love you and admire you. That central source of extrinsic motivation is gone now for almost one out of every two kids."

This problem is exacerbated by the lack of positive role models in the media where men are too often portrayed as weak and undesirable.

So what’s the solution? First, he believes parents need to realize that this is a serious problem and that they must become aware of the number of hours children are spending alone in their rooms playing video games and watching porn at the expense of other activities.

Zimbardo said sex education in schools also needs to be improved so that it focuses less on biology and “safe sex” but on emotions and romantic relationships.

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