Associations between levels of Internet Gaming Disorder symptoms and striatal morphology–replication and associations with social anxiety

Abstract

Background Brain structural alterations of the striatum have been frequently observed in Internet gaming disorder (IGD); however, the replicability of the results and the associations with social-affective dysregulations such as social anxiety remain to be determined. Methods The present study combined a dimensional neuroimaging approach with both voxel-wise and data-driven multivariate approaches to (1) replicate our previous results on a negative association between IGD symptom load (assessed by Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short-Form, IGDS9-SF) and striatal volume, (2) extend these findings to female individuals, and, (3) employ multivariate and mediation models to determine common brain structural representations of IGD and social anxiety (assessed by Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, LSAS). Results In line with the original study the voxel-wise analyses revealed a negative association between IGD and volumes of the bilateral caudate. Going beyond the earlier study investigating only male participants, the present study demonstrates that the association in the right caudate was comparable in both, the male and the female subsample. Further examination using the multivariate approach revealed regionally different associations between IGD and social anxiety with striatal density representations in the caudate and nucleus accumbens. Higher levels of IGD were associated with higher social anxiety and the association was critically mediated by the multivariate neurostructural density variations of the striatum. Conclusions Altered striatal volumes may represent a replicable and generalizable marker of IGD symptoms. However, exploratory multivariate analyses revealed more complex and regional specific associations between striatal density and IGD as well as social anxiety symptoms. Variations in both tendencies may share common structural brain representations, which mediate the association between increased IGD and social anxiety.

Neuroimaging the effects of smartphone (over-)use on brain function and structure—a review on the current state of MRI-based findings and a roadmap for future research

“…(9) In terms of a general challenge of the MRI-based research field it will be vital to better address and enhance the replicability of MRI research (see e.g. (Klugah-Brown et al, 2022) for an example of replicable brain structural markers in behavioral addictions), employing designs that extend the view of the traditional case-control designs in neuroimaging of mental disorders (Etkin, 2019), implement transparent data and code sharing as well as pre-registration of studies that allow an a priori specification of brain-based hypotheses (see also (Nichols et al, 2017;Poldrack et al, 2017).…”

Trust toward humans and trust toward artificial intelligence are not associated: Initial insights from self-report and neurostructural brain imaging

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The neurostructural consequences of glaucoma and their overlap with disorders exhibiting emotional dysregulations: a voxel-based meta-analysis and tripartite system model

“…In line with the primary visual symptoms of the disease, neurostructural alterations have been most commonly observed in the primary and secondary visual processing systems of the occipital cortex ((Boucard et al, 2009; Frezzotti et al, 2014) see overview in (Nuzzi et al, 2018)), yet an increasing number of studies reported neurostructural alterations that reach beyond the core visual processing systems and encompass limbic and striatal regions (e.g (Wang et al, 2020)). Variations in the structural integrity of these limbic and striatal regions have repeatedly been associated with emotional and motivational dysregulations, including elevated anxiety and depression (Gray et al, 2020; Klugah-Brown et al, 2021, 2022; C. Liu et al, 2019; X. Liu et al, 2022; Serra-Blasco et al, 2021) and may render individuals at a greater risk for the development of emotional dysregulations (Becker et al, 2015; Talati et al, 2022).…”