Increased Insular Cortical Thickness Associated With Symptom Severity in Male Youths With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Surface-Based Morphometric Study

Abstract

With the rising increase in Internet-usage, Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has gained massive attention worldwide. However, detailed cerebral morphological changes remain unclear in youths with IGD. In the current study, our aim was to investigate cortical morphology and further explore the relationship between the cortical morphology and symptom severity in male youths with IGD. Forty-eight male youths with IGD and 32 age- and education-matched normal controls received magnetic resonance imaging scans. We employed a recently proposed surface-based morphometric approach for the measurement of cortical thickness (CT). We found that youths with IGD showed increased CT in the bilateral insulae and the right inferior temporal gyrus. Moreover, significantly decreased CT were found in several brain areas in youths with IGD, including the bilateral banks of the superior temporal sulci, the right inferior parietal cortex, the right precuneus, the right precentral gyrus, and the left middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, youths with IGD demonstrated a significantly positive correlation between the left insular CT and symptom severity. Our data provide evidence for the finding of abnormal CT in distributed cerebral areas and support the notion that altered structural abnormalities observed in substance addiction are also manifested in IGD. Such information extends current knowledge about IGD-related brain reorganization and could help future efforts in identifying the role of insula in the disorder.

Meta-analyses of the functional neural alterations in subjects with Internet gaming disorder: Similarities and differences across different paradigms

“…In VBM study revealed a greater GM volume in the MTG of subjects with IGD . A recent surface-based morphometric study reported increased cortical thickness in the bilateral insula and right IFG and decreased thickness in the bilateral STG of subjects with IGD (Wang et al 2018). fMRI studies of addiction using executive function tasks reported similar results.…”

“…The increased functional connection between the left frontoparietal network and anterior insula predicts steeper devaluation of delayed rewards in smokers (Clewett et al 2014). Some IGD studies focused on this area have shown that impaired anterior insular activation is associated with poor risky decision making (Lee et al 2016), and increased insular cortical thickness is associated with symptom severity in IGD (Wang et al 2018). Our findings also provide evidence that the insula contributes to how addicted individuals feel (craving), remember, control, and make decisions about (risk-reward decision) their addictive behaviors (Naqvi and Bechara 2010).…”

Structural gray matter differences in Problematic Usage of the Internet: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of included studies [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] and Table 2 shows gray matter regions displaying significant differences between PUI and control groups for each study. Across the whole identified literature, six studies reported the use of a diagnostic interview to confirm PUI (Supplementary Table 5).…”

Neurobiological mechanisms underlying internet gaming disorder

“… 22 Finally, adolescents with IGD showed decreased cortical thickness in distributed cerebral areas and had a positive correlation between the left insular cortical thickness and symptom severity. 23 …”