Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 30:16:1090224.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1090224. eCollection 2022.

Graph analysis of diffusion tensor imaging-based connectome in young men with internet gaming disorder

Jiaolong Qin  1   2 , Shuai Wang  3   4 , Huangjing Ni  5 , Ye Wu  1   2 , Limin Chen  3 , Shuaiyi Guo  4 , Fuquan Zhang  6 , Zhenhe Zhou  3   4 , Lin Tian  3   4
Affiliations

Graph analysis of diffusion tensor imaging-based connectome in young men with internet gaming disorder

Jiaolong Qin et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

Although recent evidence suggests that dysfunctional brain organization is associated with internet gaming disorder (IGD), the neuroanatomical alterations related to IGD remain unclear. In this diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study, we aimed to examine alterations in white matter (WM) structural connectomes and their association with IGD characteristics in 47 young men with IGD and in 34 well-matched healthy controls. Two approaches [namely, network-based statistics (NBS) and graph theoretical measures] were applied to assess differences in the specific topological features of the networks and to identify the potential changes in the topological properties, respectively. Furthermore, we explored the association between the alterations and the severity of internet addiction. An NBS analysis revealed widespread alterations of the cortico-limbic-striatal structural connectivity networks in young people with IGD: (1) an increased subnet1 comprising the insula and the regions responsible for visual, auditory, and sensorimotor functions and (2) two decreased subnet2 and subnet3 comprising the insula, striatum, and limbic regions. Additional correlation analysis showed a significant positive association between the mean fractional anisotropy- (FA-) weighted connectivity strength of subnet1 and internet addiction test (IAT) scores in the IGD group. The present study extends our knowledge of the neuroanatomical correlates in IGD and highlights the role of the cortico-limbic-striatal network in understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this disorder.

Keywords: DTI; connectome; cortico-limbic-striatal network; internet gaming disorder; structural connectivity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A flowchart for the construction of structural brain networks. (A) The 90 nodes of the brain network obtained from the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas. (B) White matter (WM) fiber information prepared to check which pairs of nodes remain connected. (C) Region-based information extracted from the abovementioned image data. All pairwise connections between the nodes are calculated to generate a connection matrix. (D,E) A list of network analysis entries that are applied.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The three subnetwork results from the network-based statistics (NBS) analysis in a coronal view.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Each group has its own hub distribution. It showed the hub with a probability of being a hub greater than 30%.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
(A) Between-group comparison results of the mean fractional anisotropy- (FA–) weighted structural connectivity strength in each subnetwork between young people with internet gaming disorder (IGD) and healthy controls (HC). (B) An illustration of the correlation result between the mean FA-weighted structural connectivity strength of subnet1 and the IAT score in the IGD group.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Summarizing the results of network analysis. It represented three subnetwork results (i.e., subnetworks 1–3) whose connections are marked with different colors in the connectogram. If a nodal measure showed the existence of a significant between-group difference, the location of the outer ring of the circle corresponding to this node was labeled as the nodal measure’s name (namely Di, Ei, and Ci). If the nodal measure’s name was colored with red, it meant that the corresponding value increased. Hubs’ name was marked with orange color and with a larger font size in the ring. FRON, frontal cortex; INS, insula; SUBCOR, subcortical region; CING, cingulum; PAR, parietal cortex; OCC, occipital cortex; TEM, temporal cortex; L, left hemisphere; R, right hemisphere.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association [APA]. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5™, 5th Edn. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
    1. Baur V., Hänggi J., Langer N., Jäncke L. (2013). Resting-state functional and structural connectivity within an insula–amygdala route specifically index state and trait anxiety. Biol. Psychiat. 73 85–92. 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.06.003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bax T. (2015). “Internet gaming disorder” in China: biomedical sickness or sociological badness? Games Cult. 11 233–255. 10.1177/1555412014568188 - DOI
    1. Bengtsson S., Nagy Z., Skare S., Forsman L., Forssberg H., Ullén F. (2005). Extensive piano practicing has regionally specific effects on white matter development. Nat. Neurosci. 8 1148–1150. 10.1038/nn1516 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berret E., Kintscher M., Palchaudhuri S., Tang W., Osypenko D., Kochubey O., et al. (2019). Insular cortex processes aversive somatosensory information and is crucial for threat learning. Science 364:w474. 10.1126/science.aaw0474 - DOI - PubMed