Internet addiction: Neuroimaging findings

Abstract

The Internet has so radically changed the way we conduct our lives for a long time. However, maladaptive use of the internet has resulted in impairment of the individual's psychological well-being, academic failure and reduced work performance. While not yet officially codified within a psychopathological framework, Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is growing both in prevalence and within the public consciousness as a potentially problematic condition with many parallels to existing recognized disorders. Neuroimaging is a noninvasive way to reveal altered regional cerebral activity and structural changes. As there has been a recent rise in IAD, here, we review some of the neuroimaging IAD studies and discuss these findings.

Internet Addiction: A Review of the First Twenty Years

“…Results from neuroimaging experiments have shown neurobiological changes similar to those observed in substance addictions (Yuan et al 2011). These changes include: lower activation in conflict detection, less efficiency in information processing, lower cognitive control, impaired executive control and enhanced reward sensitivity.…”

Internet Addiction: A Review

“…All of the above components are criteria for substance dependence [25]. Furthermore, recent neuroimaging findings have associated Internet overuse with neurobiological changes, [65] similar to those observed in addictions. Although much more research is needed, evidence shows that IA shares much more similarities with addictive disorders than with impulse control disorders.…”

Changes in brain activity in response to problem solving during the abstinence from online game play

“…Recent studies of internet addiction using cue-induced functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have shown that internet addiction, substance abuse and pathologic gambling shared similar brain activity in responses to internet (Han et al, 2011;Han, Hwang & Renshaw, 2010;Yuan, Qin, Liu & Tian, 2011), substance (Franken, 2003;Maas et al, 1998;Wilson, Sayette & Fiez, 2004) and gambling cues (Crockford, Goodyear, Edwards, Quickfall & el-Guebaly, 2005;Goudriaan, de Ruiter, van den Brink, Oosterlaan & Veltman, 2010). For example, fMRI studies of game cue-induced brain activity have noted that excessive online game players show increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate, nucleus accumbens, and caudate nucleus, relative to a healthy comparison group (Han et al, 2010;Ko et al, 2009).…”