Functional MRI of inhibitory control processing in problematic mobile video gamers

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 325; p. 115220
• Main Authors: Shen, Xi, Li, Zhengji, Sheng, Jiarong, Zhou, Xinqi, Wang, Jinliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Behavior, Addictive - diagnostic imaging; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Communications Media; DLPFC; Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex; fMRI; Humans; Inhibitory control; Internet; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Problematic mobile video gaming; Stroop; Video Games; fMRI; Inhibitory control; DLPFC; Stroop; Problematic mobile video gaming
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115220

•Capitalized on behavioral and neurobiological alterations of problematic mobile video gaming (PMVG).•Adopted a fMRI color-word Stroop task to identify the neurobiological underpinnings of inhibitory control in PMVG users.•Uncovered the alteration in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the Stroop process of PMVG users. With the development of mobile technology, mobile video games provide people with a more convenient way of entertainment, but problematic playing could also bring some negative consequences. Prior studies have indicated that Internet gaming addicts were accompanied by impaired inhibitory control. However, as a relatively new form of problematic game usage based on mobile devices, little is known about the neurobiological underpinnings of inhibitory control in problematic mobile video game (PMVG) users. Adopting an event-related fMRI Stroop task, the present study aimed to examine the different neural correlates of inhibitory control between PMVG and healthy control (HC) subjects. Compared with HC group, PMVG group showed greater brain activities in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during the Stroop process. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that brain activities extracted from the voxel in the DLPFC cluster had a significantly negative correlation with reward sensitivity. Our current findings may suggest the compensating effect in key brain regions of inhibitory control in problematic mobile video gamers relative to healthy controls.