Alterations in Amygdala Connectivity in Internet Addiction Disorder

Abstract

Recent studies have revealed structural and functional abnormalities in amygdala due to internet addiction (IA) associated with emotional disturbance. However, the role of amygdala connectivity that is responsible for emotion-cognition interactions is largely unknown in iA. this study aims to explore the amygdala connectivity abnormalities in iA. the functional and structural connectivity of bilateral amygdala were examined using seed-based connectivity analysis, and the structural integrity on white mater tracts passing through amygdala was also examined. Additionally, a correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between brain connectivity and duration of iA. We found that iA subjects had decreased negative functional connectivity (fc) between amygdala and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and had increased negative FC between amygdala and precuneus and superior occipital gyrus (SoG). While iA subjects had decreased positive fc between amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and had increased positive FC between amygdala and thalamus. The FC between left amygdala and right DLPFC had significant correlation with duration of IA. The structural connectivity and integrity between amygdala and Acc were also decreased in iA subjects. these findings indicate that the amygdala connectivity is altered in IA subjects. The altered FC of amygdala-DLpfc is associated with duration of iA. Internet addiction (IA) is a behavioral addiction, which has become a social problem across Eastern and Western societies with a prevalence rate ranging from 1.4% to 20.3% 1. More importantly, the prevalence rate of IA among adolescents has an increasing trend 1,2. IA is generally characterized by a loss of control over the use of the Internet despite its adverse consequences 3. The excessive and compulsive Internet use has accounted for poor real-life performance, affecting daily life function, social relationships, and academic or occupational achievements 4,5. Empirical evidence is accumulating that IA subjects have altered cognitive behaviors and brain structures 6-8. Clinically, IA disorder is closely associated with other psychiatric disorders, such as substance use disorder 9,10 , depression 10 , social anxiety disorder 11 , and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder 12. Particularly, IA shares some clinical symptoms with them, such as preoccupation, withdrawal, negative mood, and unsuccessful attempts to control 3,13. The similar emotional and cognitive disturbances suggest overlaps in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying IA and these psychiatric disorders. A number of neuroimaging studies have documented that the amygdala played an important role in emotion processing and involved in psychiatric disorders, such as IA associated with emotional disturbance 14-17. In particular, a neuroimaging study investigated the brain grey matter volume using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and found that the grey matter volume in the amygdala was decreased in IA 14. A resting-state functional magnetic reson...

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