Alterations in functional networks during cue-reactivity in Internet gaming disorder

Abstract

Background Cue-induced brain reactivity has been suggested to be a fundamental and important mechanism explaining the development, maintenance, and relapse of addiction, including Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Altered activity in addiction-related brain regions has been found during cue-reactivity in IGD using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but less is known regarding the alterations of coordinated whole brain activity patterns in IGD. Methods To investigate the activity of temporally coherent, large-scale functional brain networks (FNs) during cue-reactivity in IGD, independent component analysis was applied to fMRI data from 29 male subjects with IGD and 23 matched healthy controls (HC) performing a cue-reactivity task involving Internet gaming stimuli (i.e., game cues) and general Internet surfing-related stimuli (i.e., control cues). Results Four FNs were identified that were related to the response to game cues relative to control cues and that showed altered engagement/disengagement in IGD compared with HC. These FNs included temporo-occipital and temporo-insula networks associated with sensory processing, a frontoparietal network involved in memory and executive functioning, and a dorsal-limbic network implicated in reward and motivation processing. Within IGD, game versus control engagement of the temporo-occipital and frontoparietal networks were positively correlated with IGD severity. Similarly, disengagement of temporo-insula network was negatively correlated with higher game-craving. Discussion These findings are consistent with altered cue-reactivity brain regions reported in substance-related addictions, providing evidence that IGD may represent a type of addiction. The identification of the networks might shed light on the mechanisms of the cue-induced craving and addictive Internet gaming behaviors.

Functional neural changes and altered cortical–subcortical connectivity associated with recovery from Internet gaming disorder

“…In this study, decreased activations were found in the lentiform nucleus and other reward-related brain regions after recovery. The findings suggest that neural response to gaming cues decreases following recovery, which is consistent with previous studies comparing IGD with controls (Kim et al, 2018;Ko et al, 2013;Ma et al, 2019). The correlations between decreases in lentiform activation and self-reported cue-elicited craving provide support to the notion that decreased neural reactivity in the lentiform may underlie decreased cue-elicited craving responses in recovery in IGD and may relate importantly to diminished motivations to engage excessively in gaming behaviors.…”

“…Like drug cues in drug addictions, gaming cues may trigger game-seeking behaviors in IGD (Dong & Potenza, 2016). IGD participants have exhibited higher cue-induced brain features in the ventral and dorsal striatum (Liu et al, 2017), altered functional networks (Ko et al, 2013;Ma et al, 2019), higher late positive potential amplitude (Kim et al, 2018), when compared with control subjects when exposed to gaming cues. Neural responses to gaming cues may predict the emergence of IGD (Dong, Wang, Liu, et al, 2019) and operate in a gender-sensitive fashion .…”

Neurobiological mechanisms underlying internet gaming disorder

“…These results suggest that a transition from ventral to dorsal striatal processing may occur in individuals with IGD. 42 Players of massively multiplayer online role-play games (MMORPGs) have shown lower activity in areas associated with visuospatial attention and body self-awareness while reflecting on their own body image. 43 Furthermore, increased identification with one's avatar has been associ-ated with high left angular gyrus activation in pathological internet gamers.…”

“…These results suggest that a transition from ventral to dorsal striatal processing may occur in individuals with IGD. 42 …”

القصور فی الوظائف التنفیذیة کمتغیر وسیط فی العلاقة بین إدمان الألعاب الإلکترونیة والألکسیثیمیا لدى طلاب الجامعة

“…‫األلكسيثيم‬ ‫بين‬ ‫ربطت‬ ‫أنها‬ ‫ُجد‬ ‫و‬ ‫السابقة‬ ‫الدراسات‬ ‫وباستقراء‬ ‫كان‬ ‫سواء‬ ‫عام‬ ‫بشكل‬ ‫واإلدمان‬ ‫يا‬ ‫ًا‬ ‫سلوكي‬ ‫ا‬ ً ‫إدمان‬ ( Bonnaire, Bungener, & Varescon, 2013;Gao, et al,2018 ) ‫مخدرة‬ ‫مواد‬ ‫إدمان‬ ‫أو‬ ‫؛‬ Evren, Cınar, & Evren, 2012) ( Bonnaire, et al, 2017;Stasiewicz, et al, 2012 . ) ‫دراسات‬ ‫نتائج‬ ‫توصلت‬ ‫كما‬ ( Allerdings & Alfano, 2001;Buelow, Okdie & Cooper, 2015;Tabibnia & Zaidel, 2005 ( Müller et al, 2015, Przybylski, Weinstein& Murayama, 2017, Rehbein, Kliem, Baier, Mößle& Petry, 2015 ( Bolat, Yavuz, Eliaçık, & Zorlu, et al, 2017;Yavuz, et 2018;Bonnaire et al, 2017;Gaetan, Bréjard& Bonnet, 2016;Gervasi, al., 2019 ) ‫الش‬ ( Buelow, et al, 2015;Ma, et al, 2019;Zhou, Zhou& Zhu, 2016 ( Zhong, Du& Vladimir, 2018;Saunders, et al,2017;Long, et al, 2018 . )…”