Growing literature indicates that problematic Internet use (PIU) and excessive smartphone use (ESU) are associated with breakdown of functional brain networks. The effects of PIU&ESU on emotional face expression (EFE) recognition are not well understood, however behavioural investigations and fMRI studies of different addiction forms indicated the impairment of this function. The Facial Emotion Recognition Paradigm was used to probe cortico-limbic responses during EFE recognition. Combined fMRI and psychophysiological analysis were implemented to measure EFE-related functional brain changes in PIU&ESU. Self-reported questionnaires were used to assess PIU&ESU. Positive associations were found between the extent of PIU&ESU and functional connections related to emotional cognitive control and social brain networks. Our findings highlight the involvement of social functioning, especially EFE recognition in PIU&ESU. Therefore, we emphasize that besides the brain’s executive and reward systems, the social brain network might be the next candidate to be involved in the pathogenesis of PIU&ESU.
Internet use disorder (IUD) is generally conceptualized as a fast-growing behavioral addiction. Several structural and functional brain alterations have been revealed in this condition, but previous behavioral studies indicated that language systems may also be impaired. We used a silent word generation task to induce brain activation in Broca’s area and other parts of the language system. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent activation analysis and psychophysiological interaction analysis were applied to assess functional brain changes. IUD was measured by the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire and two additional questions concerning usage time and subjective rating of addiction. According to our key findings, areas strongly related to the default mode network were altered in IUD during the task. Moreover, Broca’s area showed altered functional connectivity with other language network and occipital areas in IUD. These findings may address the neural background of decreased verbal fluency performance previously reported in the literature, and we emphasize that beside the brain’s reward and inhibitory control systems, the language system is the next candidate to be involved in the pathogenesis of IUD.
Currently narcissism is considered one of the most widespread modern "diseases". As a consequence, its different types (grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) have been approached from several different perspectives. The present research attempts to investigate the differences between the two types of narcissism and their links with different cognitive components that are connected to these personality traits. The primary aim of our study is to investigate the maladaptive schemas (entitlement, vulnerability, emotional deprivation) and cognitive evaluation systems (self-esteem, systemizing-empathizing) associated with narcissism. In order to ensure the associations of the observed constructs, we used correlational and a specific form of structural equation modelling (SEM), pathway analysis.The results show that the early maladaptive schemas have a large impact on the development of narcissism and on the empathizing system. The different subtypes of narcissism have different effects on self-esteem, while gender and age have a minor effect on self-esteem and the empathizing system too. Hopefully, these empirical results can be applied in counselling as well as in clinical practice.
Nowadays, the limitless availability to the World Wide Web can lead to general Internet misuse and dependence. Currently, problematic Internet, smartphone and social media use belong to the most prevalent behavioral addictions. However, the neurobiological background of these Internet related behavioral addictions is not sufficiently explored. In this study, these addiction forms were assessed with self-reported questionnaires. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired for all participants (n=72, 36 males) to examine functional brain networks. The resting-state networks that were discovered using independent component analysis were analyzed to estimate within network differences. Significant negative associations with problematic Internet use, social media addiction and smartphone addiction were found in the language network, the lateral and medial visual networks, the auditory network, the sensorimotor network and the executive network. Our study suggests that problematic Internet, smartphone and social media use can cause alterations in sensory processing and higher cognitive functioning.
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