Abstract
BackgroundAlthough recent studies have clearly demonstrated functional and structural abnormalities in adolescents with internet gaming addiction (IGA), less is known about how IGA affects perfusion in the human brain. We used pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling (ASL) perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the effects of IGA on resting brain functions by comparing resting cerebral blood flow in adolescents with IGA and normal subjects.MethodsFifteen adolescents with IGA and 18 matched normal adolescents underwent structural and perfusion fMRI in the resting state. Direct subtraction, voxel-wise general linear modeling was performed to compare resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) between the 2 groups. Correlations were calculated between the mean CBF value in all clusters that survived AlphaSim correction and the Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) scores, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) scores, or hours of Internet use per week (hours) in the 15 subjects with IGA.ResultsCompared with control subjects, adolescents with IGA showed significantly higher global CBF in the left inferior temporal lobe/fusiform gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus/amygdala, right medial frontal lobe/anterior cingulate cortex, left insula, right insula, right middle temporal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, left supplementary motor area, left cingulate gyrus, and right inferior parietal lobe. Lower CBF was found in the left middle temporal gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, and right cingulate gyrus. There were no significant correlations between mean CBF values in all clusters that survived AlphaSim correction and CIAS or BIS-11 scores or hours of Internet use per week.ConclusionsIn this study, we used ASL perfusion fMRI and noninvasively quantified resting CBF to demonstrate that IGA alters the CBF distribution in the adolescent brain. The results support the hypothesis that IGA is a behavioral addiction that may share similar neurobiological abnormalities with other addictive disorders.
Highlights
Since Kimberly Young (1996) first proposed the idea that problematic computer use meets the criteria for addiction, internet gaming addiction (IGA) has been extensively studied and is currently included in Section 3, the research appendix, of the Diagnostic and StatisticalManual version 5 (DSM-V) [1]
There were no significant differences in the distributions of age, gender, and years of education between the two groups
The subjects with IGA engaged in more hours of Internet use per week (p < 0.0001) and had higher Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) (p < 0.0001) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) (p = 0.02) scores than the control subjects
Summary
Since Kimberly Young (1996) first proposed the idea that problematic computer use meets the criteria for addiction, internet gaming addiction (IGA) has been extensively studied and is currently included, the research appendix, of the Diagnostic and Statistical. Manual version 5 (DSM-V) [1] Both China and South Korea have identified IGA as a significant public health threat, and both countries support education, research, and treatment [2]. Whether chemical or behavioral, share certain characteristics These include salience, compulsive use (loss of control), mood modification and the alleviation of distress, tolerance and withdrawal, and the continuation despite negative consequences. Recent studies have clearly demonstrated functional and structural abnormalities in adolescents with internet gaming addiction (IGA), less is known about how IGA affects perfusion in the human brain. We used pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling (ASL) perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the effects of IGA on resting brain functions by comparing resting cerebral blood flow in adolescents with IGA and normal subjects
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