title: Problematic internet use is associated with structural alterations in the brain reward system in females.
abstract: Neuroimaging findings suggest that excessive Internet use shows functional and structural brain changes similar to substance addiction. Even though it is still under debate whether there are gender differences in case of problematic use, previous studies by-passed this question by focusing on males only or by using gender matched approach without controlling for potential gender effects. We designed our study to find out whether there are structural correlates in the brain reward system of problematic Internet use in habitual Internet user females. T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance (MR) images were collected in 82 healthy habitual Internet user females. Structural brain measures were investigated using both automated MR volumetry and voxel based morphometry (VBM). Self-reported measures of problematic Internet use and hours spent online were also assessed. According to MR volumetry, problematic Internet use was associated with increased grey matter volume of bilateral putamen and right nucleus accumbens while decreased grey matter volume of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Similarly, VBM analysis revealed a significant negative association between the absolute amount of grey matter OFC and problematic Internet use. Our findings suggest structural brain alterations in the reward system usually related to addictions are present in problematic Internet use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary. altbacker.anna@ttk.mta.hu.|Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. altbacker.anna@ttk.mta.hu.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Altbäcker
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Enikő
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Plózer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gergely
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Darnai
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.|MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary.|Diagnostic Centre, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perlaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Réka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Horváth
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.|MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary.|Diagnostic Centre, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gergely
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Centre, Pécs, Hungary.|MTA-PTE, Neurobiology of Stress Research Group, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Szilvia Anett
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Centre, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bogner
authors.affiliation: MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary.|Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwarcz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kovács
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Sámuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komoly
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.|National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsófia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.|MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: József
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janszky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020407:Internet; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009929:Organ Size; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012201:Reward; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Automated MRI volumetry; Brain reward system; Internet addiction; MRI; Voxel-based morphometry