Abstract
The majority of previous neuroimaging studies have demonstrated both structural and task-related functional abnormalities in adolescents with online gaming addiction (OGA). However, few functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies focused on the regional intensity of spontaneous fluctuations in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) during the resting state and fewer studies investigated the relationship between the abnormal resting-state properties and the impaired cognitive control ability. In the present study, we employed the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) method to explore the local features of spontaneous brain activity in adolescents with OGA and healthy controls during resting-state. Eighteen adolescents with OGA and 18 age-, education- and gender-matched healthy volunteers participated in this study. Compared with healthy controls, adolescents with OGA showed a significant increase in ALFF values in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the left precuneus, the left supplementary motor area (SMA), the right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC). The abnormalities of these regions were also detected in previous addiction studies. More importantly, we found that ALFF values of the left medial OFC and left precuneus were positively correlated with the duration of OGA in adolescents with OGA. The ALFF values of the left medial OFC were also correlated with the color-word Stroop test performance. Our results suggested that the abnormal spontaneous neuronal activity of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of OGA.
Highlights
Online gaming addiction (OGA) is defined as a maladaptive use of the Internet and the inability of an individual to control his/her use of the Internet, which has been classified as one type of impulse control disorder [1,2,3]
Imaging data results The amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) maps of both the OGA group and control group are presented in Fig. 1, and the two groups both exhibited significantly higher ALFF values in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/ precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and bilateral inferior parietal lobe (IPL) during the resting state
A two-sample t-test controlling for age and gender and corrected for multiple comparisons revealed that the OGA group showed significant increases in ALFF values in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), left precuneus, left supplementary motor area (SMA), right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC) compared with the control group
Summary
Online gaming addiction (OGA) is defined as a maladaptive use of the Internet and the inability of an individual to control his/her use of the Internet, which has been classified as one type of impulse control disorder [1,2,3]. As one of the common mental health problems amongst Chinese adolescents, OGA has been associated with the impairment of the individual’s psychological well-being, academic failure and reduced work performance [4], which is currently becoming a more and more serious health problem in adolescents around the world [5,6]. Most OGA studies have focused on detecting structural deficits and task-related functional impairments in people with OGA, which were helpful in evaluating neural mechanisms underlying OGA. Few studies have evaluated the blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) signal change of the regional spontaneous activity of OGA during the resting state. As a noninvasive approach, resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been utilized to investigate spontaneous low frequency fluctuations (LFF) in BOLD signals, which avoids performance-related confounds and can reflect spontaneous neural activity in the brain [9,10]. The abnormal neuronal activity during resting state may serve as an adequate marker to reflect the progress and impaired executive function of multiple brain diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
