Abstract

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has been conceptualized as a behavioral addiction and shares clinical, neuropsychological, and personality characteristics with alcohol use disorder (AUD), but IGD dose not entail brain exposure to toxic agents, which renders it different from AUD. To achieve a clear understanding of the neurobiological features of IGD, we aimed to identify morphological and functional changes in IGD and compare them with those in AUD. Individuals with IGD showed larger volume in the hippocampus/amygdala and precuneus than healthy controls (HCs). The volume in the hippocampus positively correlated with the symptom severity of IGD. Moreover, functional connectivity analysis with the hippocampus/amygdala cluster revealed that the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex showed stronger functional connectivity in individuals with IGD compared to those with AUD. In contrast, individuals with AUD exhibited the smaller cerebellar volume and thinner medial frontal cortex than HCs. The volume in the cerebellum correlated with impaired working memory function as well as duration of illness in AUD group. Findings suggested that altered volume and functional connectivity in the hippocampus/amygdala in IGD might be associated with abnormally enhanced memory process of gaming-related cues, while abnormal cortical changes and cognitive impairments in AUD might be associated with neurotoxic effects of alcohol.

Details

Title
Altered hippocampal volume and functional connectivity in males with Internet gaming disorder comparing to those with alcohol use disorder
Author
Eun Jin Yoon 1 ; Jung-Seok, Choi 2 ; Kim, Heejung 1 ; Sohn, Bo Kyung 2 ; Jung, Hee Yeon 2 ; Jun-Young, Lee 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Dai-Jin, Kim 3 ; Sun-Won, Park 4 ; Kim, Yu Kyeong 5 

1  Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
2  Department of Psychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
3  Department of Psychiatry, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
4  Department of Radiology, Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
5  Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
Pages
1-12
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Jul 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06057-7
ProQuest document ID
1956152153
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.