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Updated: May 26, 2025
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Online Gamers
Published on: November 9, 2019
Integrative gray matter volume and molecular analyses of altered intrinsic neural timescale in internet gaming
Longyao Ma1, Bohui Mei1, Mengzhe Zhang1
1Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, PR China; Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Cognitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging, PR China; Henan Engineering Technology Research Center for Detection and Application of Brain Function, PR China; Henan Engineering Research Center of Medical Imaging Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment, PR China; Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging Intelligence Research, PR China; Henan Engineering Research Center of Brain Function Development and Application, PR China.
Background:
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) frequently features abnormalities in emotional and cognitive processing, for which the specific neurobiological mechanisms are not known. The intrinsic neural timescale (INT) gradient reflects how long neural information is stored in a specialized brain region and represents its function. Therefore, we investigated whether IGD exhibited altered INT and accompanying gray matter volume (GMV) and underlying molecular architectural abnormalities.
Methods:
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance data from 57 patients with IGD (IGDs) and 50 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs) were collected, and INT was calculated by assessing the autocorrelation of intrinsic neural signals. Voxel-based morphometric analysis was conducted to calculate whole-brain GMV. Then, comparing INT between groups and correlation analysis with clinical characteristics was performed. Furthermore, correlations between INT and PET- and SPECT-driven maps were used to examine specific neurotransmitter system alternations.
Result:
Compared to HCs, IGDs exhibited shorter timescales in the bilateral insula, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, left amygdala, and left superior temporal pole. The decreased INT in the right insula was positively correlated with the severity of internet addiction. Interestingly, the shorter timescales are spatially associated with the serotonergic system.
Conclusion:
This study suggests atypical emotional and cognitive processing deficits in localized brain regions of IGDs. And these findings establish a link between abnormal local neurodynamics and structures and neurotransmitters, which facilitates synthesized comprehension of IGDs and provides new perspectives for treatment.
