People with impulsedisorders had reduced activity in the bottom front of the brain (as seen in previous experiments), but the people with sexual disorders had reduced activity at the top front of the brain, indicating that something different was going on.
Young believes that when enthusiasm shades into addiction, there are signs that can be diagnosed, much like those of the official so-called impulse control disorders, such as gambling.
One pilot study, at the University of Minnesota, showed that MRI brain scans of people who had been diagnosed as sexually compulsive were different than those with other types of impulse control disorders.