title: Microstructure abnormalities in adolescents with internet addiction disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent studies suggest that internet addiction disorder (IAD) is associated with structural abnormalities in brain gray matter. However, few studies have investigated the effects of internet addiction on the microstructural integrity of major neuronal fiber pathways, and almost no studies have assessed the microstructural changes with the duration of internet addiction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We investigated the morphology of the brain in adolescents with IAD (N = 18) using an optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) technique, and studied the white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) changes using the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method, linking these brain structural measures to the duration of IAD. We provided evidences demonstrating the multiple structural changes of the brain in IAD subjects. VBM results indicated the decreased gray matter volume in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the supplementary motor area (SMA), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the cerebellum and the left rostral ACC (rACC). DTI analysis revealed the enhanced FA value of the left posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) and reduced FA value in the white matter within the right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). Gray matter volumes of the DLPFC, rACC, SMA, and white matter FA changes of the PLIC were significantly correlated with the duration of internet addiction in the adolescents with IAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggested that long-term internet addiction would result in brain structural alterations, which probably contributed to chronic dysfunction in subjects with IAD. The current study may shed further light on the potential brain effects of IAD.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Technology, Life Sciences Research Center, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Guihong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xuejuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jixin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: von Deneen
authors.forename: Qiyong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet