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Functional characteristics of the brain in college students with internet gaming disorder

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Abstract

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is a subtype of internet addiction disorder (IAD), but its pathogenesis remains unclear. This study investigated brain function in IGD individuals using task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It is a prospective study in 19 IGD individuals and 19 matched healthy controls. They all received internet videogame stimuli while a 3.0 T fMRI was used to assess echo planar imaging. Brain activity was analyzed using the Brain Voyager software package. Functional data were spatially smoothed using Gaussian kernel. The threshold level was positioned at 10 pixels, and the activation range threshold was set to 10 voxels. Activated brain regions were compared between the two groups, as well as the amount of activated voxels. The internet videogame stimuli activated brain regions in both groups. Compared with controls, the IGD group showed increased activation in the right superior parietal lobule, right insular lobe, right precuneus, right cingulated gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and left brainstem. There was a significant difference in the number of activated voxels between the two groups. An average of 1078 voxels was activated in the IGD group compared with only 232 in the control group. Internet videogame play activates the vision, space, attention, and execution centers located in the occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal gyri. Abnormal brain function was noted in IGD subjects, with hypofunction of the frontal cortex. IGD subjects showed laterality activation of the right cerebral hemisphere.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to express our gratitude to all subjects who participated in this study, and to the funding agents: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30570695), the Development and Reform Commission of Hunan Province, the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No. 07JJ3042) and the Department of Public Health of Hunan Province (No. B2005048).

Conflict of interest

Jun Liu, Weihui Li, Shunke Zhou, Li Zhang, Zhiyuan Wang, Yan Zhang, Yebin Jiang and Lingjiang Li declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, and the applicable revisions at the time of the investigation. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Second Xiangya Hosipital, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan Province, China

    Jun Liu & Shunke Zhou

  2. School of Public Administration, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan Province, China

    Jun Liu & Shunke Zhou

  3. Institute of Mental Health, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan Province, China

    Weihui Li, Li Zhang, Yan Zhang & Lingjiang Li

  4. Department of Ultrasound, Hunan Cancer Hospital, the Afflicated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan Province, China

    Zhiyuan Wang

  5. Neuroradiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Yebin Jiang

  6. Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Yebin Jiang

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  1. Jun Liu
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Correspondence to Jun Liu.

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Liu, J., Li, W., Zhou, S. et al. Functional characteristics of the brain in college students with internet gaming disorder . Brain Imaging and Behavior 10, 60–67 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-015-9364-x

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