Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction

• Published in: European journal of radiology Vol. 82; no. 8; pp. 1308 - 1312
• Main Authors: Weng, Chuan-Bo, Qian, Ruo-Bing, Fu, Xian-Ming, Lin, Bin, Han, Xiao-Peng, Niu, Chao-Shi, Wang, Ye-Han
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.08.2013
• Subjects: Adolescent; Behavior, Addictive - etiology; Behavior, Addictive - pathology; Brain - pathology; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Female; Gambling - etiology; Gambling - pathology; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Nerve Fibers, Myelinated - pathology; Neurons - pathology; Online game addiction; Online Systems; Radiology; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tract-based spatial statistics; Video Games - adverse effects; Voxel-based morphometry; Magnetic resonance imaging; Online game addiction; Tract-based spatial statistics; Voxel-based morphometry
• ISSN: 0720-048X; 1872-7727; 1872-7727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2013.01.031

Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA.