Internet gaming disorder (IGD), defined as the persistent use of online games with ignorance of adverse consequences, has increasingly raised widespread public concerns. This study aimed at elucidating the precise mechanisms underlying IGD by comparing intertemporal decision-making process between 18 IGD participants and 21 matched healthy controls (HCs). Both behavioral and fMRI data were recorded from a delay discounting task. At the behavioral level, the IGD showed a higher discount rate k than HC; and in IGD group, both the reaction time (delay − immediate) and the discount rate k were significantly positively correlated with the severity of IGD. At the neural level, the IGD exhibited reduced brain activations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral inferior frontal gyrus compared to HC during performing delay trials relative to immediate ones. Taken together, the results suggested that IGD showed deficits in making decisions and tended to pursuit immediate satisfaction. The underlying mechanism arises from the deficient ability in evaluating between delayed reward and immediate satisfaction, and the impaired ability in impulse inhibition, which may be associated with the dysfunction of the prefrontal activation. These might be the reason why IGD continue playing online games in spite of facing severe negative consequences.
Background and Aims: Attentional bias for drug-related stimuli is a key characteristic for drug addiction. Characterizing the relationship between attentional bias and brain reactivity to Internet gaming-related stimuli may help in identifying the neural substrates that critical to Internet gaming disorder (IGD).Methods: 19 IGD and 21 healthy control (HC) subjects were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they were performing an addiction Stroop task.Results: Compared with HC group, IGD subjects showed higher activations when facing Internet gaming-related stimuli in regions including the inferior parietal lobule, the middle occipital gyrus and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These brain areas were thought to be involved in selective attention, visual processing, working memory and cognitive control.Discussion and Conclusions: The results demonstrated that compared with HC group, IGD subjects show impairment in both visual and cognitive control ability while dealing with gaming-related words. This finding might be helpful in understanding the underlying neural basis of IGD.
Internet search has become the most common way that people deal with issues and problems in everyday life. The wide use of Internet search has largely changed the way people search for and store information. There is a growing interest in the impact of Internet search on users’ affect, cognition, and behavior. Thus, it is essential to develop a tool to measure the changes in psychological characteristics as a result of long-term use of Internet search. The aim of this study is to develop a Questionnaire on Internet Search Dependence (QISD) and test its reliability and validity. We first proposed a preliminary structure and items of the QISD based on literature review, supplemental investigations, and interviews. And then, we assessed the psychometric properties and explored the factor structure of the initial version via exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The EFA results indicated that four dimensions of the QISD were very reliable, i.e., habitual use of Internet search, withdrawal reaction, Internet search trust, and external storage under Internet search. Finally, we tested the factor solution obtained from EFA through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results of CFA confirmed that the four dimensions model fits the data well. In all, this study suggests that the 12-item QISD is of high reliability and validity and can serve as a preliminary tool to measure the features of Internet search dependence.
Human decision making is rarely conducted in temporal isolation. It is often biased and affected by environmental variables, particularly prior selections. In this study, we used a task that simulates a real gambling process to explore the effect of the risky features of a previous selection on subsequent decision making. Compared with decision making after an advantageous risk-taking situation (Risk_Adv), that after a disadvantageous risk-taking situation (Risk_Disadv) is associated with a longer response time (RT, the time spent in making decisions) and higher brain activations in the caudate and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Compared with decisions after Risk_Adv, those after Risk_Disadv in loss trials are associated with higher brain activations in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the precuneus. Brain activity and relevant RTs significantly correlated. Overall, people who experience disadvantageous risk-taking selections tend to focus on current decision making and engage cognitive endeavors in value evaluation and in the regulation of their risk-taking behaviors during decision making.
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