title: Reduced orbitofrontal cortical thickness in male adolescents with internet addiction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has consistently been implicated in the pathology of both drug and behavioral addictions. However, no study to date has examined OFC thickness in internet addiction. In the current study, we investigated the existence of differences in cortical thickness of the OFC in adolescents with internet addiction. On the basis of recently proposed theoretical models of addiction, we predicted a reduction of thickness in the OFC of internet addicted individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants were 15 male adolescents diagnosed as having internet addiction and 15 male healthy comparison subjects. Brain magnetic resonance images were acquired on a 3T MRI and group differences in cortical thickness were analyzed using FreeSurfer. Our results confirmed that male adolescents with internet addiction have significantly decreased cortical thickness in the right lateral OFC (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This finding supports the view that the OFC alterations in adolescents with internet addiction reflect a shared neurobiological marker of addiction-related disorders in general.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Soon-Beom
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun-Jung
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ho-Hyun
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Chang-Dai
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klauser
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whittle
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yűcel
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pantelis
authors.forename: Soon-Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020407:Internet; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018910:Video Games