BackgroundIndividuals with internet gaming disorder (IGD) are generally characterized by impaired executive control, persistent game-craving, and excessive reward-seeking behaviors. However, the causal interactions within the frontostriatal circuits underlying these problematic behaviors remain unclear. Here, spectral dynamic causal modeling (spDCM) was implemented to explore this issue.MethodsResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 317 online game players (148 IGD subjects and 169 recreational game users (RGUs)) were collected. Using independent component analysis, we determined six region of interests within frontostriatal circuits for further spDCM analysis, and further statistical analyses based on the parametric empirical Bayes framework were performed.ResultsCompared with RGUs, IGD subjects showed inhibitory effective connectivity from the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) to the right caudate and from the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to the left OFC; at the same time, excitatory effective connectivity was observed from the thalamus to the left OFC. Correlation analyses results showed that the directional connection from the right OFC to the right caudate was negatively associated with addiction severity.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the disrupted causal interactions between specific regions might contribute to dysfunctions within frontostriatal circuits in IGD, and the pathway from the right OFC to the right caudate could serve as a target for brain modulation in future IGD interventions.

中文翻译：

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额纹状体回路中动态相互作用的改变反映了网络游戏障碍中的渴望处理受到干扰

背景 患有网络游戏障碍 (IGD) 的人通常以执行控制受损、持续的游戏渴望和过度的寻求奖励行为为特征。然而，这些问题行为背后的额纹状体回路中的因果相互作用仍不清楚。在这里，实施了频谱动态因果模型 (spDCM) 来探讨这个问题。方法收集了来自 317 名在线游戏玩家（148 名 IGD 受试者和 169 名休闲游戏用户 (RGU)）的静息态功能磁共振成像数据。使用独立成分分析，我们确定了额纹状体回路中的六个兴趣区域以进行进一步的 spDCM 分析，并进行了基于参数经验贝叶斯框架的进一步统计分析。结果与 RGUs 相比，IGD 受试者显示出从右侧眶额叶皮层 (OFC) 到右侧尾状核以及从右侧背外侧前额叶皮层到左侧 OFC 的抑制性有效连接；同时，观察到从丘脑到左侧 OFC 的兴奋性有效连接。相关分析结果表明，从右侧 OFC 到右侧尾状核的定向连接与成瘾严重程度呈负相关。结论这些结果表明，特定区域之间因果相互作用的中断可能导致 IGD 中额纹状体回路内的功能障碍，以及来自右侧的通路右侧尾状核的 OFC 可以作为未来 IGD 干预中大脑调节的目标。