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Updated: Jan 16, 2026
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Online Gamers
Published on: November 9, 2019
Individualized gray matter morphological abnormalities unveil two neuroanatomical internet gaming disorder subtypes
Longyao Ma1, Xinqi Li2, Bohui Mei1
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.
Background:
High heterogeneity among individuals with internet gaming disorder (IGDs) hampers the discovery of neuroimaging findings. To address this heterogeneity, this study adopted the newly proposed approach based on individualized gray matter morphological differences to objectively characterize neuroanatomical subtypes of IGDs.
Methods:
92 IGDs and 56 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for structural imaging scans and clinical tests. Heterogeneity through discriminative analysis identifies IGD subtypes through individual local GMV aberrances. Voxel-wise volumes, clinical features, and molecular architectures were explored between subtypes.
Results:
Two distinct and robust IGD subgroups were revealed, which showed opposite patterns of structural brain abnormalities. Subtype 1 showed decreased GMVs in DMN and SN. Subtype 2 exhibited widespread increased GMVs in the striatal mesolimbic pathway. Moreover, the neuroanatomical abnormalities of subtype 1 are mainly associated with 5-HT receptors and GABAergic receptors, and that subtype 2 are mainly associated with the dopamine system.
Conclusions:
These results revealed two objective neuroanatomical subtypes, providing new insights into the heterogeneity of IGD and contributing to the precise treatment of IGDs.
