Abstract
BackgroundInternet addiction disorder (IAD) is currently becoming a serious mental health issue around the globe. Previous studies regarding IAD were mainly focused on associated psychological examinations. However, there are few studies on brain structure and function about IAD. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate white matter integrity in adolescents with IAD.Methodology/Principal FindingsSeventeen IAD subjects and sixteen healthy controls without IAD participated in this study. Whole brain voxel-wise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) was performed by tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to localize abnormal white matter regions between groups. TBSS demonstrated that IAD had significantly lower FA than controls throughout the brain, including the orbito-frontal white matter, corpus callosum, cingulum, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and corona radiation, internal and external capsules, while exhibiting no areas of higher FA. Volume-of-interest (VOI) analysis was used to detect changes of diffusivity indices in the regions showing FA abnormalities. In most VOIs, FA reductions were caused by an increase in radial diffusivity while no changes in axial diffusivity. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between FA and behavioral measures within the IAD group. Significantly negative correlations were found between FA values in the left genu of the corpus callosum and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, and between FA values in the left external capsule and the Young's Internet addiction scale.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that IAD demonstrated widespread reductions of FA in major white matter pathways and such abnormal white matter structure may be linked to some behavioral impairments. In addition, white matter integrity may serve as a potential new treatment target and FA may be as a qualified biomarker to understand the underlying neural mechanisms of injury or to assess the effectiveness of specific early interventions in IAD.
Highlights
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), called problematic or pathological Internet use, is characterized by an individual’s inability to control his or her use of the Internet, which may eventually result in marked distress and functional impairments of general life such as academic performance, social interaction, occupational interest and behavioral problems [1]
Our findings suggest that IAD demonstrated widespread reductions of fractional anisotropy (FA) in major white matter pathways and such abnormal white matter structure may be linked to some behavioral impairments
White matter integrity may serve as a potential new treatment target and FA may be as a qualified biomarker to understand the underlying neural mechanisms of injury or to assess the effectiveness of specific early interventions in IAD
Summary
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), called problematic or pathological Internet use, is characterized by an individual’s inability to control his or her use of the Internet, which may eventually result in marked distress and functional impairments of general life such as academic performance, social interaction, occupational interest and behavioral problems [1]. Current studies about IAD have focused on case summaries, behavioral components, negative consequences in daily life, along with clinical diagnosis, epidemiology, associated psychosocial factors, symptom management, psychiatric comorbidity and treatment outcome [7,8,9,10,11] These studies are mainly based on psychological self-reported questionnaires and consistently reported that heavy internet overuse may exert potential effects on individuals’ psychological problems and cognitive impairments. A positron emission tomography (PET) study found that Internet game overuse shares psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of impulse control disorders and substance/non-substancerelated addiction [18] Taken together, these findings indicate that IAD subjects are associated with structural and functional changes in brain regions involving in emotional processing, executive attention, decision making and cognitive control. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate white matter integrity in adolescents with IAD
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