Trait impulsivity and impaired prefrontal impulse inhibition function in adolescents with internet gaming addiction revealed by a Go/No-Go fMRI study.

Wei-Na Ding,Yan Zhou,Ya-Song Du,Zhi-Guo Zhuang,Jin-Hua Sun,Xue Chen,Jian-Rong Xu,Ya-Wen Sun,Lei Li,Yong Zhang

doi:10.1186/1744-9081-10-20

Abstract

BackgroundRecent studies suggest that Internet gaming addiction (IGA) is an impulse disorder, or is at least related to impulse control disorders. In the present study, we hypothesized that different facets of trait impulsivity may be specifically linked to the brain regions with impaired impulse inhibition function in IGA adolescents.MethodsSeventeen adolescents with IGA and seventeen healthy controls were scanned during performance of a response-inhibition Go/No-Go task using a 3.0 T MRI scanner. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS)-11 was used to assess impulsivity.ResultsThere were no differences in the behavioral performance on the Go/No-Go task between the groups. However, the IGA group was significantly hyperactive during No-Go trials in the left superior medial frontal gyrus, right anterior cingulate cortex, right superior/middle frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left precentral gyrus, and left precuneus and cuneus. Further, the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, bilateral inferior temporal gyrus, and right superior parietal lobule were significantly hypoactive during No-Go trials. Activation of the left superior medial frontal gyrus was positively associated with BIS-11 and Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) total score across IGA participants.ConclusionsOur data suggest that the prefrontal cortex may be involved in the circuit modulating impulsivity, while its impaired function may relate to high impulsivity in adolescents with IGA, which may contribute directly to the Internet addiction process.

Highlights

Internet addiction (IA) is a newly identified condition that has attracted worldwide attention and involves loss of control over Internet use [1,2,3,4]
The main aims of the present study were to (1) investigate the Internet gaming addiction (IGA) differences in response inhibition with behavioral and fMRI approaches using a Go/No-Go paradigm; (2) explore whether different facets of trait impulsivity are linked to abnormal brain activation in IGA individuals; and (3) determine whether regions of abnormal brain activation are related to the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) and Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) scores, which represent the severity of impulsiveness and IGA, respectively
Demographic and behavioral results There were no significant differences in the distributions of age, gender, or education years between the two groups

Summary

Introduction

Internet addiction (IA) is a newly identified condition that has attracted worldwide attention and involves loss of control over Internet use [1,2,3,4]. Impulsivity is viewed as a multifaceted trait that varies normally across the population, high levels may predisposeto a range of dysfunctional behaviors, including addiction [12,13]. Recent studies using self-report measures have found impulsivity to be positively correlated with excessive computer game playing and excessive Internet use in general [20,21]. Several neuroimaging studies have suggested diminished efficiency of response-inhibition processes in IA groups relative to healthy controls [25,26,27]. Recent studies suggest that Internet gaming addiction (IGA) is an impulse disorder, or is at least related to impulse control disorders. We hypothesized that different facets of trait impulsivity may be linked to the brain regions with impaired impulse inhibition function in IGA adolescents

Objectives

Methods

Results