Department of Decoded Neurofeedback, Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Kyoto, Japan.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2024 Dec 2;379(1915):20230090. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0090. Epub 2024 Oct 21.
With the spread of smartphones and computer games, concerns have escalated regarding the rising prevalence of gaming disorder. Patients often display attentional biases, unconsciously turning their attention towards gaming-related stimuli. However, attempts to discover and ameliorate these attentional deficits have yielded inconsistent outcomes, potentially due to the dynamic nature of attentional bias. This study investigated neural mechanisms underlying attentional bias state by combining neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging -fMRI) with an approach-avoidance task tailored to an individual's gaming preference. We conducted a multivariate pattern analysis of endogenous brain activity in 21 participants with probable gaming disorder. Our analyses revealed that activity patterns in the insula tracked temporal attentional bias states specific to gaming stimuli. A broad network of frontal and parietal regions instead appeared to predict a general temporal attentional bias state. Finally, we conducted a proof-of-concept study for 'just-in-time' attentional bias training through fMRI-decoded neurofeedback of insula activity patterns, named decoded attentional bias training (DecABT). Our preliminary results suggest that DecABT may help to decrease the attractiveness of gaming stimuli via a insula- and precuneus-based neural mechanism. This work provides new evidence for the insula as an endogenous regulator of attentional bias states in gaming disorder and a starting point to develop novel, individualized therapeutic approaches to treat addiction.This article is part of the theme issue 'Neurofeedback: new territories and neurocognitive mechanisms of endogenous neuromodulation'.
随着智能手机和电脑游戏的普及，人们对游戏障碍症的发病率不断上升表示担忧。患者通常表现出注意力偏向，无意识地将注意力转向与游戏相关的刺激。然而，试图发现和改善这些注意力缺陷的尝试并未产生一致的结果，这可能是由于注意力偏向的动态性质。本研究通过结合神经影像学（功能磁共振成像 - fMRI）和针对个人游戏偏好的趋近-回避任务，研究了注意偏向状态的神经机制。我们对 21 名可能患有游戏障碍的参与者进行了内源性大脑活动的多变量模式分析。我们的分析表明，岛叶的活动模式追踪了与游戏刺激相关的特定时间注意偏向状态。相反，广泛的额顶区域网络似乎可以预测一般的时间注意偏向状态。最后，我们通过 fMRI 解码的岛叶活动模式进行了“即时”注意偏向训练的概念验证研究，称为解码注意偏向训练（DecABT）。我们的初步结果表明，DecABT 可以通过基于岛叶和楔前叶的神经机制来帮助降低游戏刺激的吸引力。这项工作为岛叶作为游戏障碍中注意偏向状态的内源性调节剂提供了新的证据，并为开发治疗成瘾的新型个体化治疗方法提供了起点。本文是“神经反馈：内源性神经调节的新领域和神经认知机制”主题特刊的一部分。
