Zhou Wei-Ran, Wang Min, Zheng Hui, Wang Meng-Jing, Dong Guang-Heng
Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, PR China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, PR China.
Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, PR China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, China.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Apr 20;107:110256. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110256. Epub 2021 Jan 24.
Previous studies have shown that gaming-related cues could induce gaming cravings and bring about changes in brain activities in subjects with Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, little is known about the brain network organizations in IGD subjects during a cue-craving task and the relationship between this network organization and IGD severity.
Sixty-one IGD subjects and 61 matched recreational game users (RGUs) were scanned while performing a cue-craving task. We calculated and compared the participation coefficient (PC) among brain network modules between IGD subjects and RGUs. Based on the results, further group comparison analyses were performed to explain the PC changes and to explore the relationship between PCs and IGD severity.
While performing a cue-craving task, compared with RGUs, IGD subjects showed significantly decreased PCs in the default-mode network (DMN) and the frontal-parietal network (FPN). Specifically, the number of connections between nodes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and other nodes in the DMN of IGD subjects was much larger than that in RGUs. Correlation results showed that the number of DMN intra-modular connections was positively correlated with addiction severity and craving degree.
These results provide neural evidence that can explain why cognitive control, emotion, attention and other functions are impaired in IGD subjects in the face of gaming cues, which leads to compulsive behavior toward games. These findings extend our understanding of the neural mechanism of IGD and have important implications for developing effective interventions to treat IGD subjects.
先前的研究表明，与游戏相关的线索可诱发游戏渴望，并使患有网络游戏障碍（IGD）的受试者大脑活动发生变化。然而，对于IGD受试者在线索渴望任务期间的脑网络组织情况以及该网络组织与IGD严重程度之间的关系，我们知之甚少。
在61名IGD受试者和61名匹配的娱乐游戏使用者（RGU）执行线索渴望任务时对他们进行扫描。我们计算并比较了IGD受试者和RGU之间脑网络模块的参与系数（PC）。基于这些结果，进行了进一步的组间比较分析，以解释PC的变化，并探索PC与IGD严重程度之间的关系。
在执行线索渴望任务时，与RGU相比，IGD受试者在默认模式网络（DMN）和额顶网络（FPN）中的PC显著降低。具体而言，IGD受试者腹内侧前额叶皮质、前扣带回皮质、后扣带回皮质与DMN中其他节点之间的连接数量比RGU多得多。相关性结果表明，DMN模块内连接数量与成瘾严重程度和渴望程度呈正相关。
这些结果提供了神经学证据，可解释为什么IGD受试者在面对游戏线索时认知控制、情绪、注意力及其他功能会受损，进而导致对游戏的强迫行为。这些发现扩展了我们对IGD神经机制的理解，对开发治疗IGD受试者的有效干预措施具有重要意义。
