title: Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction.
abstract: Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001, China. send007@163.com
authors.forename: Chuan-Bo
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Ruo-Bing
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Xian-Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xiao-Peng
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Chao-Shi
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Ye-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D009862:Online Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018910:Video Games / Q000009:adverse effects*