1Department of Psychiatry, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
2Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
J Behav Addict. 2020 Sep 11;9(3):589-597. doi: 10.1556/2006.2020.00060. Print 2020 Oct 12.
The clinical significance of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is spreading worldwide, but its underlying neural mechanism still remains unclear. Moreover, the prevalence of IGD seems to be the highest in adolescents whose brains are in development. This study investigated the functional connectivity between large-scale intrinsic networks including default mode network, executive control network, and salience network. We hypothesized that adolescents with IGD would demonstrate different functional connectivity patterns among large-scale intrinsic networks, implying neurodevelopmental alterations, which might be associated with executive dysfunction.
This study included 17 male adolescents with Internet gaming disorder, and 18 age-matched male adolescents as healthy controls. Functional connectivity was examined using seed-to-voxel analysis and seed-to-seed analysis, with the nodes of large-scale intrinsic networks used as region of interests. Group independent component analysis was performed to investigate spatially independent network.
We identified aberrant functional connectivity of salience network and default mode network with the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in adolescents with IGD. Furthermore, functional connectivity between salience network and pSTS correlated with proneness to Internet addiction and self-reported cognitive problems. Independent component analysis revealed that pSTS was involved in social brain network.
The results imply that aberrant functional connectivity of social brain network with default mode network and salience network was identified in IGD that may be associated with executive dysfunction. Our results suggest that inordinate social stimuli during excessive online gaming leads to altered connections among large-scale networks during neurodevelopment of adolescents.
互联网游戏障碍（IGD）的临床意义在全球范围内不断扩大，但其潜在的神经机制仍不清楚。此外，IGD 的患病率似乎在大脑发育中的青少年中最高。本研究调查了包括默认模式网络、执行控制网络和突显网络在内的大规模内在网络之间的功能连接。我们假设，患有 IGD 的青少年在大规模内在网络之间会表现出不同的功能连接模式，这表明存在神经发育改变，这可能与执行功能障碍有关。
本研究包括 17 名男性 IGD 青少年和 18 名年龄匹配的男性健康对照组。使用种子到体素分析和种子到种子分析来检查功能连接，使用大规模内在网络的节点作为感兴趣区域。进行组独立成分分析以研究空间独立网络。
我们发现，IGD 青少年的突显网络和默认模式网络与左侧后上颞叶皮质（pSTS）之间存在异常的功能连接。此外，突显网络与 pSTS 之间的功能连接与网络成瘾倾向和自我报告的认知问题相关。独立成分分析表明，pSTS 参与了社交脑网络。
结果表明，IGD 中存在社交脑网络与默认模式网络和突显网络之间的异常功能连接，这可能与执行功能障碍有关。我们的研究结果表明，在青少年的神经发育过程中，过度的在线游戏中过度的社交刺激会导致大规模网络之间的连接改变。
