Persistent dependent behaviour is accompanied by dynamic switching between the ventral and dorsal striatal connections in internet gaming disorder

• Published in: Addiction biology Vol. 26; no. 6; pp. e13046 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Min, Zheng, Hui, Zhou, Weiran, Jiang, Qing, Dong, Guang‐Heng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Brain Mapping; Caudate-putamen; Classification; Drug addiction; dynamic causal modelling; functional connectivity; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gambling - diagnostic imaging; Gambling - pathology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Immunoglobulin D; Internet Addiction Disorder - diagnostic imaging; Internet Addiction Disorder - pathology; internet gaming disorder; Learning algorithms; Longitudinal studies; longitudinal study; Machine learning; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neostriatum; Nucleus accumbens; Nucleus Accumbens - diagnostic imaging; Nucleus Accumbens - pathology; Putamen; Putamen - diagnostic imaging; Putamen - pathology; striatum; Support Vector Machine; Ventral Striatum - diagnostic imaging; Ventral Striatum - pathology; Young Adult; internet gaming disorder; longitudinal study; functional connectivity; striatum; machine learning; dynamic causal modelling
• ISSN: 1355-6215; 1369-1600; 1369-1600
• DOI: 10.1111/adb.13046

Cross‐sectional studies have suggested that functional heterogeneity within the striatum in individuals with addictive behaviours may involve the transition from ventral to dorsal partitions; however, due to limitations of the cross‐sectional design, whether the contribution of this transition to addiction was confused by individual differences remains unclear, especially for internet gaming disorder (IGD). Longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 22 IGD subjects and 18 healthy controls were collected at baseline and more than 6 months later. We examined the connectivity features of subregions within the striatum between these two scans. Based on the results, we further performed dynamic causal modelling to explore the directional effect between regions and used these key features for data classification in machine learning to test the replicability of the results. Compared with controls, IGD subjects exhibited decreased functional connectivity between the left dorsal striatum (putamen) and the left insula, whereas connectivity between the right ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens [Nacc]) and the left insula was relatively stable over time. An inhibitory effective connectivity from the left putamen to the right Nacc was found in IGD subjects during the follow‐up scan. Using the above features, the classification accuracy of the training model developed with the follow‐up was better than that of the model based on the initial scan. Persistent IGD status was accompanied by a switch in the locus of control within the striatum, which provided new insights into association between IGD and drug addiction. Persistent IGD status is accompanied by a switch in the locus of control within the striatum.