Abstract
Internet gaming disorder (IGD), a major behavior disorder, has gained increasing attention. Recent studies indicate altered resting-state static functional connectivity (FC) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in subjects with IGD. Whereas static FC often provides information on functional changes in subjects with IGD, investigations of temporal changes in FC between the DLPFC and the other brain regions may shed light on the dynamic characteristics of brain function associated with IGD. Thirty subjects with IGD and 30 healthy controls (HCs) matched for age, gender and education status were recruited. Using the bilateral DLPFC as seeds, static FC and dynamic FC maps were calculated and compared between groups. Correlations between alterations in static FC and dynamic FC and clinical variables were also investigated within the IGD group. The IGD group showed significantly lower static FC between the right DLPFC and the left rolandic operculum while higher static FC between the right DLPFC and the left pars triangularis when compared to HCs. The IGD group also had significantly decreased dynamic FC between the right DLPFC and the left insula, right putamen and left precentral gyrus, and increased dynamic FC in the left precuneus. Moreover, the dynamic FC between the right DLPFC and the left insula was negatively correlated with the severity of IGD. Dynamic FC can be used as a powerful supplement to static FC, helping us obtain a more comprehensive understanding of large-scale brain network activity in IGD and put forward new ideas for behavioral intervention therapy for it.
Highlights
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is defined as a failure to control one’s impulses to excessively use the Internet, which may eventually lead to serious negative consequences, such as sleep insufficiency, poor work performance, and loss of interest in other activities (Young and Rogers, 1998)
The Internet gaming disorder (IGD) group showed significantly decreased dynamic functional connectivity (FC) between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the left insula, the right putamen and the left precentral gyrus and significantly increased dynamic FC-variance with the left precuneus compared with the healthy controls (HCs) group
The present study presents a preliminary analysis of bilateral DLPFC FC by combining static FC and dynamic FC analyses in IGD subjects
Summary
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is defined as a failure to control one’s impulses to excessively use the Internet, which may eventually lead to serious negative consequences, such as sleep insufficiency, poor work performance, and loss of interest in other activities (Young and Rogers, 1998). A growing body of evidence shows that distributed neural circuits exhibit spontaneous activity at rest (Ge et al, 2017; Yuan et al, 2017) These slow-frequency fluctuations are temporally correlated within spatially distinct but functionally related networks. The brain activity of the DLPFC was shown to be positively correlated with cravings in response to online game cues in IGD subjects (Ko et al, 2009). The dynamic FC derived from resting-state FC functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is expected to reveal meaningful information about IGD related brain functional impairments that may be lost when longer time scales or entire scans are used, which would extend the understanding of the effects of IGD on the brain’s functional organization. We hypothesized that FC based on the bilateral DLPFC would show impaired engagement in subjects with IGD, reflecting aberrant static and dynamic FC patterns relative to the healthy controls (HCs)
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