Impaired frontal-basal ganglia connectivity in adolescents with internet addiction.
Understanding the neural basis of poor impulse control in Internet addiction (IA) is important for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of this syndrome. The current study investigated how neuronal pathways implicated in response inhibition were affected in IA using a Go-Stop paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-three control subjects aged 15.2±0.5 years (mean±S.D.) and eighteen IA subjects aged 15.1±1.4 years were studied. Effective connectivity within the response inhibition network was quantified using (stochastic) dynamic causal modeling (DCM). The results showed that the indirect frontal-basal ganglia pathway was engaged by response inhibition in healthy subjects. However, we did not detect any equivalent effective connectivity in the IA group. This suggests the IA subjects fail to recruit this pathway and inhibit unwanted actions. This study provides a clear link between Internet addiction as a behavioral disorder and aberrant connectivity in the response inhibition network.
1] School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China [2] Department of Automatic Control, College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, P.R. China.
Baojuan
B
Li
The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG UK.
Karl J
KJ
Friston
1] School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China [2] Department of Automatic Control, College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, P.R. China.
Jian
J
Liu
School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China.
Yang
Y
Liu
School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China.
Guopeng
G
Zhang
Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
Fenglin
F
Cao
Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
Linyan
L
Su
Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
Shuqiao
S
Yao
School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China.
Hongbing
H
Lu
Department of Automatic Control, College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, P.R. China.
Dewen
D
Hu
D000293:Adolescent; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020407:Internet; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time