Decreased frontal lobe function in people with Internet addiction disorder

Jun Liu; Fatema Esmail; Lingjiang Li; Zhifeng Kou; Weihui Li; Xueping Gao; Zhiyuan Wang; Changlian Tan; Yan Zhang; Shunke Zhou

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.34.006

Decreased frontal lobe function in people with Internet addiction disorder

Neural Regen Res. 2013 Dec 5;8(34):3225-32. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.34.006.

Authors

Jun Liu¹, Fatema Esmail², Lingjiang Li³, Zhifeng Kou², Weihui Li³, Xueping Gao³, Zhiyuan Wang⁴, Changlian Tan⁵, Yan Zhang³, Shunke Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Second Xiangya Hosipital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, Hunan Province, China ; School of Public Administration, Central South University, Changsha 410083, Hunan Province, China.
² Wayne State University, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit 48201, MI, USA.
³ Institute of Mental Health, Central South University, Changsha 410011, Hunan Province, China.
⁴ Hunan Provincial Tumor Hospital, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Second Xiangya Hosipital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, Hunan Province, China.

PMID: 25206643
PMCID: PMC4146181
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.34.006

Abstract

In our previous studies, we showed that frontal lobe and brainstem functions were abnormal in on-line game addicts. In this study, 14 students with Internet addiction disorder and 14 matched healthy controls underwent proton-magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure cerebral function. Results demonstrated that the ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatine decreased, but the ratio of cho-line-containing compounds to creatine increased in the bilateral frontal lobe white matter in people with Internet addiction disorder. However, these ratios were mostly unaltered in the brainstem, suggesting that frontal lobe function decreases in people with Internet addiction disorder.

Keywords: Internet addiction disorder; N-acetylaspartate; choline-containing compounds; creatine; grants-supported paper; internet gaming addiction; magnetic resonance imaging; magnetic resonance spectroscopy; neural regeneration; neuroregeneration.