title: Blunted feedback processing during risk-taking in adolescents with features of problematic Internet use.
abstract: While the conceptualization of problematic Internet use (PIU) as a "behavioral addiction" resembling substance-use disorders is debated, the neurobiological underpinnings of PIU remain understudied. This study examined whether adolescents displaying features of PIU (at-risk PIU; ARPIU) are more impulsive and exhibit blunted responding in the neural mechanisms underlying feedback processing and outcome evaluation during risk-taking. Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by positive (i.e. reward) and negative (i.e. loss) feedback were recorded during performance on a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) among ARPIU (n=39) and non-ARPIU subjects (n=27). Compared to non-ARPIU, ARPIU adolescents displayed higher levels of urgency and lack of perseverance on the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. Although no between-group difference in BART performance was observed, ERPs demonstrated overall decreased sensitivity to feedback in ARPIU compared to non-ARPIU adolescents, as indexed by blunted feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P300 amplitudes to both negative and positive feedback. The present study provides evidence for feedback processing during risk-taking as a neural correlate of ARPIU. Given recent concerns regarding the growing prevalence of PIU as a health concern, future work should examine the extent to which feedback processing may represent a risk factor for PIU, a consequence of PIU, or possibly both.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Yvonne H C
authors: YH
authors: Yau
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Marc N
authors: MN
authors: Potenza
authors: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Linda C
authors: LC
authors: Mayes
authors: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: michael.crowley@yale.edu.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Crowley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D011678:Punishment; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Feedback processing; Feedback-related negativity; P300; Problematic Internet use