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Looking at pornography give sex addicts the same high as a drug addict getting a hit, researchers have found.

An analysis of brain activity found almost identical patterns - if both parties were addicts.

However, they caution that this does not necessarily mean that pornography itself is addictive.

The brain of a pornography addict: The scans show someone watching material that is explicit and exciting (top row), erotic and exciting (middle row) and money and exciting (bottom row).

'The patients in our trial were all people who had substantial difficulties controlling their sexual behaviour and this was having significant consequences for them, affecting their lives and relationships,' explains Dr Valerie Voon, a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellow at the University of Cambridge.

'In many ways, they show similarities in their behaviour to patients with drug addictions.

'We wanted to see if these similarities were reflected in brain activity, too.'

Although precise estimates are unknown, previous studies have suggested that as many as one in 25 adults is affected by compulsive sexual behaviour, an obsession with sexual thoughts, feelings or behaviour which they are unable to control.

The University of Cambridge study published in the journal PLOS ONE looked at brain activity in nineteen male patients affected by compulsive sexual behaviour and compared them to the same number of healthy volunteers.

The patients started watching pornography at earlier ages and in higher proportions relative to the healthy volunteers.

The study participants were shown a series of short videos featuring either sexually explicit content or sports whilst their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which uses a blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal to measure brain activity.

The researchers found that three regions in particular were more active in the brains of the people with compulsive sexual behaviour compared with the healthy volunteers.

Significantly, these regions – the ventral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate and amygdala – were regions that are also particularly activated in drug addicts when shown drug stimuli.

The areas affected: The ventral striatum is involved in processing reward and motivation, whilst the dorsal anterior cingulate is implicated in anticipating rewards and drug craving. The amygdala is involved in processing the significance of events and emotions.

'There are clear differences in brain activity between patients who have compulsive sexual behaviour and healthy volunteers.

'These differences mirror those of drug addicts,' adds Dr Voon.

'Whilst these findings are interesting, it's important to note, however, that they could not be used to diagnose the condition.

'Nor does our research necessarily provide evidence that these individuals are addicted to porn – or that porn is inherently addictive.

'Much more research is required to understand this relationship between compulsive sexual behaviour and drug addiction.'

The ventral striatum is involved in processing reward and motivation, whilst the dorsal anterior cingulate is implicated in anticipating rewards and drug craving.

The amygdala is involved in processing the significance of events and emotions.

Dr John Williams, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust, says: 'Compulsive behaviours, including watching porn to excess, over-eating and gambling, are increasingly common. This study takes us a step further to finding out why we carry on repeating behaviours that we know are potentially damaging to us.

'Whether we are tackling sex addiction, substance abuse or eating disorders, knowing how best, and when, to intervene in order to break the cycle is an important goal of this research.'