Page 19 - ITPS-7-4

INNOSC Theranostics and
Pharmacological Sciences Neurobiology of gaming disorder

to controls. These findings suggest that Internet game exhibited reduced rsFC between frontal regions, including
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overuse may damage the microstructure of both GM and the DLPFC and OFC, and the amygdala, compared to
white matter fibers connecting executive control. the control group, and the disrupted rsFC was negatively
In studies using fMRI, individuals with GD exhibited correlated with impulsivity.
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less activation in the DLPFC and ACC. In addition, The OFC has been linked to impulse control and is
they showed decreased brain activation in the ACC when activated during response inhibition. A longitudinal
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viewing game-related pictures during a forced break study was conducted to investigate the impact of Internet
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compared to non-GD subjects. gaming on brain structure. The study recruited not only
A previous study investigated the differences in excessive Internet gamers but also gaming-naïve subjects.
electroencephalography (EEG) activity between the GD The gaming-naïve subjects were randomly divided into two
group and healthy controls. The study revealed that subjects groups. One group was assigned to 6 weeks of daily gaming,
with GD exhibited lower activity in the left frontal theta, whereas the other group was assigned to a non-gaming
condition. Initially, the GM volume in the OFC was lower
alpha, and beta bands compared to controls while gaming.
Furthermore, a negative correlation was found between in excessive gamers than in the gaming-naïve group, and
left frontal theta power and YIAT scores. Another study the volume further decreased during the 6-week follow-up
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compared the resting-state quantitative EEG, which reflects interval. Furthermore, the longitudinal analysis revealed
fundamental brain function during rest, among patients that the control group’s mean GM volume of the OFC
with GD or AUD and healthy controls. The results showed did not significantly change over time, whereas the GM
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volume in this region reduced in the 6-week daily gaming
that individuals with GD had lower absolute beta power group. In accordance with the longitudinal study, a cross-
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compared to patients with AUD and normal controls.
sectional study found that individuals with GD exhibited
These findings indicate that individuals with GD may reduced cortical thickness in brain regions such as the
have weaker executive control compared to those without OFC, insula, and lingual gyrus. The cortical thickness of
GD. the OFC was found to have an inverse correlation with the
number of errors made during the incongruent condition
4.1. Reduced efficiency in response inhibition of the color-word Stroop task in the GD group. In an
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Response inhibition is the ability to inhibit inappropriate event-related fMRI study, the group with GD exhibited
responses and is evaluated using tasks such as the Go/ higher brain activation when processing the Go/No-go
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No-go task, stop-signal task, and color-word Stroop test. task over the left OFC and bilateral caudate compared to
Impulsivity is a crucial factor in response inhibition, the control group. Although the GM volume and cortical
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referring to a tendency to react hastily without considering thickness decreased in the OFC of individuals with GD,
negative consequences. It is closely related to the loss of the activity in the OFC and caudate increased during the
control, which is a central symptom of GD. 42 Go/No-go task, indicating the need for greater cognitive

In individuals with GD, characteristic features include effort due to reduced efficiency of cognitive control.
a decline in response inhibition and high impulsivity. They The decrease in cognitive control efficiency was also
exhibited more errors in the No-go condition of the Go/ observed in the ACC, a brain region linked to conflict
No-go task and the incongruent condition of the Stroop test monitoring and error detection in response inhibition.
when compared to the control group. 22,43-46 Furthermore, Although individuals with GD demonstrated lower GM
they demonstrated higher impulsivity scores, as measured density and volume, 28,29,34 as well as lower white matter
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by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) or Eysenck density compared to the control group, increased activity
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Impulsivity Questionnaire. 35,46,47 was observed in the ACC while performing the Stroop test
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Numerous studies have reported structural and in the incongruent condition or No-go trials, indicating
functional changes in brain regions that suggest a decline a need for greater cognitive effort in response inhibition.
in response inhibition in individuals with GD. The main Error processing is a crucial aspect of response
regions affected are the DLPFC, OFC, and ACC. A previous inhibition, and the ACC and insula are the primary
study using VBM found a negative correlation between areas involved in this process. Error processing refers
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GM volume in the ACC and impulsivity, as measured to the ability to detect errors and evaluate performance,
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by the BIS-11. Yuan et al. found that reduced rsFC and impairment of this function has been previously
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between the DLPFC and caudate was associated with more reported in patients with SUD. Similarly, an event-
incongruent errors in the Stroop task in individuals with related potential (ERP) study found that individuals
GD. Similarly, Ko et al. found that individuals with GD with GD exhibited significantly diminished error-related
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Volume 7 Issue 4 (2024) 5 doi: 10.36922/itps.3326