Internet addictive individuals share impulsivity and executive dysfunction with alcohol-dependent patients.

Zhenhe Zhou,Hongmei Zhu,Jun Wang,Cui Li

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00288

Zhenhe Zhou, Hongmei Zhu + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00288

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Abstract

Internet addiction disorder (IAD) should belong to a kind of behavioral addiction. Previous studies indicated that there are many similarities in the neurobiology of behavior and substance addictions. Up to date, although individuals with IAD have difficulty in suppressing their excessive online behaviors in real life, little is known about the patho-physiological and cognitive mechanisms responsible for IAD. Neuropsychological test studies have contributed significantly to our understanding of the effect of IAD on the cognitive function. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether Internet addictive individuals share impulsivity and executive dysfunction with alcohol-dependent individuals. Participants include 22 Internet addictive individuals, 22 patients with alcohol dependence (AD), and 22 normal controls (NC). All participants were measured with BIS-11, go/no-go task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and Digit span task under the same experimental condition. Results showed that Barratt impulsiveness scale 11 scores, false alarm rate, the total response errors, perseverative errors, failure to maintain set of IAD and AD group were significantly higher than that of NC group, and hit rate, percentage of conceptual level responses, the number of categories completed, forwards scores, and backwards scores of IAD and AD group were significantly lower than that of NC group, however, no differences in above variables between IAD group and AD group were observed. These results revealed that the existence of impulsivity, deficiencies in executive function and working memory in an IAD and an AD sample, namely, Internet addictive individuals share impulsivity and executive dysfunction with alcohol-dependent patients.

Highlights

Internet addiction disorder (IAD) originates from the phenomenon of the Internet being a part of the common person’s daily life
Post hoc Least square difference (LSD) tests showed that attentional key scores, motor key scores, non-planning key scores, and Barratt impulsiveness scale 11 (BIS-11) total scores of IAD and alcohol dependence (AD) group were significantly higher than that of normal controls (NC) group, while above four main type data were not significantly different between IAD and AD group (Table 2)
COMPARISONS OF reactive time (RT), HIT RATE, AND FALSE ALARM RATE AMONG IAD GROUP, AD GROUP, AND NC GROUP Using RTs as dependent variable, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no main effect of Group (IAD group, AD group, and NC group)

Summary

Introduction

Internet addiction disorder (IAD) originates from the phenomenon of the Internet being a part of the common person’s daily life. A recent study examines whether individuals with IAD display response monitoring functional deficit characteristics in a modified Eriksen flanker task (Zhou et al, 2013). Subjects and controls completed the modified Eriksen flanker task while measured with ERPs. Results showed that the mean ERN amplitudes of total error response conditions at frontal electrode and central electrode sites of subjects were reduced compared with controls. Results showed that the mean ERN amplitudes of total error response conditions at frontal electrode and central electrode sites of subjects were reduced compared with controls These results indicated that individuals with IAD display response monitoring functional deficit characteristics and share ERN characteristics of individuals with compulsive–impulsive spectrum disorder. By using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, DSM-IV) criteria, some scholars suggest that IAD is an impulse disorder or at least related to impulse control disorder (Beard and Wolf, 2001; Shaw and Black, 2008)

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