Decreased functional connectivity between ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens in Internet gaming disorder: evidence from resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Jin-Tao Zhang,Chao-Gan Yan,Qin-Xue Liu,Xiao-Yi Fang,Shan-Shan Ma,Lu Liu,Lin-Yuan Deng,Ling-Jiao Wang,Sarah W Yip,Chao Chen,Ben Liu

doi:10.1186/s12993-015-0082-8

Abstract

BackgroundInternet gaming disorder (IGD) has become an increasing mental health problem worldwide. Decreased resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) has been found in substance use and is thought to play an important role in the development of substance addiction. However, rsFC between the VTA and NAcc in a non-substance addiction, such as IGD, has not been assessed previously. The current study aimed to investigate: (1) if individuals with IGD exhibit alterations in VTA-NAcc functional connectivity; and (2) whether VTA-NAcc functional connectivity is associated with subjective Internet craving.MethodsThirty-five male participants with IGD and 24 healthy control (HC) individuals participated in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Regions of interest (left NAcc, right NAcc and VTA) were selected based on the literature and were defined by placing spheres centered on Talairach Daemon coordinates.ResultsIn comparison with HCs, individuals with IGD had significantly decreased rsFC between the VTA and right NAcc. Resting-state functional connectivity strength between the VTA and right NAcc was negatively correlated with self-reported subjective craving for the Internet.ConclusionsThese results suggest possible neural functional similarities between individuals with IGD and individuals with substance addictions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12993-015-0082-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become an increasing mental health problem worldwide
Resting-state functional connectivity analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging data allow for the assessment of dynamic interactions between brain regions while the brain is ‘at rest’, and this methodology has increasingly been used to study the neurobiology of addictions [5,6,7,8]
Exploratory follow-up analyses including these variables yielded the following results for between-group differences in right nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) connectivity: anxiety as covariate: F = 3.92, p = .053; depression as covariate: F = 1.38, p =

Summary

Introduction

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become an increasing mental health problem worldwide. Decreased resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) has been found in substance use and is thought to play an important role in the development of substance addiction. The current study aimed to investigate: (1) if individuals with IGD exhibit alterations in VTANAcc functional connectivity; and (2) whether VTA-NAcc functional connectivity is associated with subjective Internet craving. Dopamine neurons within the VTA project to the NAcc as part of the mesolimbic pathway and communication between these regions is essential for acute drug reward [13, 15] and implicated in incentive motivation [16], such as substance-related craving [17,18,19]. In a study of adult smokers, Hong et al found a weakened rsFC strength between the dorsal anterior cingulate and striatum [20]

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