Atypical cortical neural activity in internet gaming disorder comorbid with autism spectrum disorder during a cue...

Significant, positive correlations between internet gaming disorder (IGD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known. Individuals with ASD are prone to problematic internet use due to addiction or restricted interests. Here, we examined cortical neural activity in individuals with IGD comorbid with ASD during a gaming-related cue reactivity task, using magnetoencephalography (MEG).

MEG was used to record neural activity in right-handed male participants aged 11-20 years (11 IGD-ASD, 13 healthy controls; intelligence quotient [IQ] ≥ 80). IGD and ASD were diagnosed per DSM-5-TR criteria. During MEG recording, participants viewed gaming cues and neutral base stimuli in a cue reactivity task. Source-level cortical activity was estimated using minimum norm estimation (MNE), and statistical comparisons were performed using two-tailed nonparametric permutation tests with false discovery rate (FDR) correction.

In the IGD-ASD group, neural activity was significantly elevated at 137 ms in the right fusiform gyrus during gaming cues compared with the base condition (p = 0.000039). Between-group comparisons under cue conditions (200-270 ms) showed higher right frontal activation (p = 0.0028) and lower activation in left lateral occipital (p = 0.000092), fusiform (p = 0.00025), lingual (p = 0.0017), and parahippocampal regions (p = 0.000049) in the IGD-ASD group compared with controls.

The IGD-ASD group showed increased right frontal activity and decreased left occipital, fusiform, lingual, and parahippocampal activity during exposure to the gaming cue, suggesting atypical visual and cognitive processing mechanisms in this comorbid group. Further studies comparing individuals with ASD and those with IGD-ASD, as well as by examining the neurophysiological characteristics of individuals with ASD who develop or recover from IGD, might clarify the pathology of these populations.