Abstract
Abnormal structure and function in the striatum and prefrontal cortex (PFC) have been revealed in Internet addiction disorder (IAD). However, little is known about alterations of corticostriatal functional circuits in IAD. The aim of this study was to investigate the integrity of corticostriatal functional circuits and their relations to neuropsychological measures in IAD by resting-state functional connectivity (FC). Fourteen IAD adolescents and 15 healthy controls underwent resting-state fMRI scans. Using six predefined bilateral striatal regions-of-interest, voxel-wise correlation maps were computed and compared between groups. Relationships between alterations of corticostriatal connectivity and clinical measurements were examined in the IAD group. Compared to controls, IAD subjects exhibited reduced connectivity between the inferior ventral striatum and bilateral caudate head, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and posterior cingulate cortex, and between the superior ventral striatum and bilateral dorsal/rostral ACC, ventral anterior thalamus, and putamen/pallidum/insula/inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and between the dorsal caudate and dorsal/rostral ACC, thalamus, and IFG, and between the left ventral rostral putamen and right IFG. IAD subjects also showed increased connectivity between the left dorsal caudal putamen and bilateral caudal cigulate motor area. Moreover, altered cotricostriatal functional circuits were significantly correlated with neuropsychological measures. This study directly provides evidence that IAD is associated with alterations of corticostriatal functional circuits involved in the affective and motivation processing, and cognitive control. These findings emphasize that functional connections in the corticostriatal circuits are modulated by affective/motivational/cognitive states and further suggest that IAD may have abnormalities of such modulation in this network.
Highlights
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), a prevalent mental health concern around the world, has attracted considerable attention from the public and scientific community (Spada, 2014)
There were no significant differences in the Time Management Disposition Scale (TMDS) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS) between the two groups while IAD subjects had higher Young’s Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) (p < 0.0001), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (p < 0.0001), Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) (p < 0.001) and Family Assessment Device (FAD) (p = 0.017) scores than the controls
We found YIAS scores was negatively related with connectivity strength between the right VSs and the dorsal caudate bilaterally, and SCARED scores was inversely associated with connectivity strengths between the right VSs and the bilateral rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), between the left DC and the bilateral dorsal/rostral ACC as well as between the left ventral rostral putamen (VRP) and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)
Summary
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), a prevalent mental health concern around the world, has attracted considerable attention from the public and scientific community (Spada, 2014). Brain structural and functional changes associated with IAD have been reviewed in previous studies elsewhere (Kuss and Griffiths, 2012; Ko et al, 2015; Lin and Lei, 2015). IAD addicts were found to have lower level of dopamine D2 receptors (Kim et al, 2011; Hou et al, 2012), altered glucose metabolism (Park et al, 2010a) and brain activation (Ko et al, 2014; Li et al, 2014) in the striatum. These findings are in line with current pathophysiological model emphasizing the prominent role to the striatum and PFC in addiction disorders (Goldstein and Volkow, 2011; LimbrickOldfield et al, 2013)
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