Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Tzyou 1st Rd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Addict Biol. 2013 May;18(3):559-69. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00405.x. Epub 2011 Oct 26.
This study aimed to evaluate brain correlates of cue-induced craving to play online games in subjects with Internet gaming addiction (IGA), subjects in remission from IGA and controls. The craving response was assessed by event-related design of functional magnetic resonance images (fMRIs). Fifteen subjects with IGA, 15 in remission from IGA and 15 controls were recruited in this study. The subjects were arranged to view the gaming screenshots and neutral images under investigation of fMRIs. The results showed that bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), precuneus, left parahippocampus, posterior cingulate and right anterior cingulate were activated in response to gaming cues in the IGA group and their activation was stronger in the IGA group than those in the control group. Their region-of-interest was also positively correlated with subjective gaming urge under cue exposure. These activated brain areas represent the brain circuit corresponding to the mechanism of substance use disorder. Thus, it would suggest that the mechanism of IGA is similar to substance use disorder. Furthermore, the IGA group had stronger activation over right DLPFC and left parahippocampus than did the remission group. The two areas would be candidate markers for current addiction to online gaming and should be investigated in future studies.
本研究旨在评估网络成瘾（IGA）患者、IGA 缓解期患者和对照组在线索诱发的玩网络游戏欲望时大脑的相关性。通过功能磁共振成像（fMRI）的事件相关设计评估了欲望反应。本研究共招募了 15 名 IGA 患者、15 名 IGA 缓解期患者和 15 名对照组。安排受试者在 fMRI 检查下观看游戏截图和中性图片。结果表明，IGA 组双侧背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）、楔前叶、左侧海马旁回、后扣带回和右侧前扣带回在游戏线索刺激下被激活，且其激活强度高于对照组。他们的兴趣区域也与线索暴露下的主观游戏欲望呈正相关。这些激活的大脑区域代表了与物质使用障碍机制相对应的大脑回路。因此，这表明 IGA 的机制类似于物质使用障碍。此外，IGA 组右侧 DLPFC 和左侧海马旁回的激活强度强于缓解组。这两个区域可能是当前网络游戏成瘾的候选标志物，应在未来的研究中进行探讨。
