Slow-Wave EEG Activity Correlates with Impaired Inhibitory Control in Internet Addiction Disorder.

Yawei Qi,Yuting Liu,Ofir Turel,Jia Zhao,Xinhe Zhang,Qinghua He,Shiqi Hu,Ziyou Yan

doi:10.3390/ijerph19052686

Abstract

Impaired inhibitory control is a core feature of internet addiction disorder (IAD). It is therefore of interest to determine the neurophysiological markers associated with it. The present study aimed to find such biomarkers with a resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG). We specifically used scores on the Chinese Internet Addiction Scale revised edition (CIAS-R) to divide 46 participants into two groups: the IAD group (>53, n = 23) and control group (<46, n = 23). Both behavioral aspects (Go/NoGo responses and impulsivity) and EEG were measured in the lab. The results suggest that the IAD group presented a decreased slow-wave (1–8 Hz) absolute power across the whole brain. The slow-wave activities in the frontal areas were also correlated with the commission error rate in the Go/NoGo task in the IAD group. These results imply that the frontal slow-wave EEG activity may serve as a neurophysiological marker of IAD, helping to understand the underlying neural mechanisms of inhibitory control deficits in IAD and point to possible interventions.

Highlights

IntroductionInternet addiction disorder (IAD) captures maladaptive patterns of internet use that infringe upon normal functioning
The results demonstrate that slow-wave bands in EEG were associated with the severity of Internet addiction disorder (IAD) [37,38] and could serve as physiological markers of inhibitory control in IAD [39,40,41,42]
The results suggested that individuals with IAD and pathological gambling (PG) patients present deficiencies in working memory, executive dysfunction, and impulsivity, and individuals with IAD are more impulsive than PG patients

Summary

Introduction

Internet addiction disorder (IAD) captures maladaptive patterns of internet use that infringe upon normal functioning. It is marked by strong and growing urges to use the internet, failure to regulate its use, use patterns that conflict with normal activities, failed attempts to reduce use, and growing intolerance and withdrawal-like symptoms when access to the internet is prevented [1]. By focusing on IAD in this study, we lump together all variants of IAD and acknowledge that there may be nuanced differences to be explored in future research We take this approach because we believe that all variants of IAD may share a common neural deficit, the core of which is impaired inhibitory control [2,6,7,8]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion