Abstract
In recent years, internet addiction disorder (IAD) has become more prevalent worldwide and the recognition of its devastating impact on the users and society has rapidly increased. However, the neurobiological mechanism of IAD has not bee fully expressed. The present study was designed to determine if the striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) levels measured by 99mTc-TRODAT-1 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) brain scans were altered in individuals with IAD. SPECT brain scans were acquired on 5 male IAD subjects and 9 healthy age-matched controls. The volume (V) and weight (W) of bilateral corpus striatum as well as the 99mTc-TRODAT-1 uptake ratio of corpus striatum/the whole brain (Ra) were calculated using mathematical models. It was displayed that DAT expression level of striatum was significantly decreased and the V, W, and Ra were greatly reduced in the individuals with IAD compared to controls. Taken together, these results suggest that IAD may cause serious damages to the brain and the neuroimaging findings further illustrate IAD is associated with dysfunctions in the dopaminergic brain systems. Our findings also support the claim that IAD may share similar neurobiological abnormalities with other addictive disorders.
Highlights
The use of the internet has expanded incredibly across the world over the last few years
The present study was designed to determine if the striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) levels measured by 99mTc-TRODAT-1 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) brain scans were altered in individuals with internet addiction disorder (IAD)
It was displayed that DAT expression level of striatum was significantly decreased and the V, W, and Ra were greatly reduced in the individuals with IAD compared to controls
Summary
The use of the internet has expanded incredibly across the world over the last few years. Maladaptive use of the internet has resulted in impairment of the individual’s psychological wellbeing, academic failure, and reduced work performance and, especially leaded to internet addiction disorder (IAD) [1,2,3,4]. IAD has become more prevalent worldwide; the recognition of its devastating impact on the users and society has rapidly increased [7]. People experiencing IAD showed clinical features such as craving, withdrawal and tolerance [7, 8], increased impulsiveness [9], and impaired cognitive performance in tasks involving risky decision-making [10]
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