Problematic Usage of the Internet (PUI) has been linked to diverse structural gray matter changes in individual data studies. However, no quantitative synthesis across studies has been conducted. We aimed to identify gray matter regions showing significant spatial convergence across neuroimaging studies in PUI. We searched PubMed and PsycINFO up to 10/03/2021 and included original, cross-sectional comparative studies that examined structural gray matter imaging in PUI versus control groups; reported a whole-brain analysis; and provided peak coordinates for gray matter differences. From a total of 624 potentially relevant studies, 15 (including 355 individuals with PUI and 363 controls) were included in a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was performed using extracted coordinates and identified significant spatial convergence in the medial/superior frontal gyri, the left anterior cingulate cortex/cingulate gyrus, and the left middle frontal/precentral gyri. Datasets contributing to these findings all indicated reduced gray matter in cases compared to controls. In conclusion, voxel-based morphometric studies indicate replicable gray matter reductions in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex in PUI, regions implicated in reward processing and top-down inhibitory control. Further studies are required to understand the nature of gray matter differences across PUI behaviors, as well as the contribution of particular mental health disorders, and the influence of variation in study and sample characteristics.

互联网 (PUI) 的问题使用与个体数据研究中的不同结构灰质变化有关。然而，尚未进行跨研究的定量综合。我们的目标是识别在 PUI 的神经影像学研究中显示显着空间收敛的灰质区域。我们搜索了 PubMed 和 PsycINFO，截至 2021 年 3 月 10 日，并纳入了原始的横断面比较研究，这些研究检查了 PUI 与对照组的结构灰质成像；报告了全脑分析；并提供了灰质差异的峰值坐标。在总共 624 项可能相关的研究中，有 15 项（包括 355 名患有 PUI 的个体和 363 名对照者）被纳入基于体素的形态测量学研究的荟萃分析。使用提取的坐标进行解剖似然估计 (ALE) 荟萃分析，并在内侧/额上回、左前扣带皮层/扣带回和左额中/前中央回中识别出显着的空间收敛。促成这些发现的数据集都表明，与对照组相比，病例中的灰质减少了。总之，基于体素的形态计量学研究表明，PUI 中背外侧前额叶皮层和前扣带皮层的灰质可复制减少，这些区域与奖赏处理和自上而下的抑制控制有关。需要进一步的研究来了解 PUI 行为之间灰质差异的性质，以及特定精神健康障碍的贡献，以及研究和样本特征变化的影响。