Structural and Functional Brain Abnormalities in Internet Gaming Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Comparative Meta-Analysis

Xinyu Gao; Mengzhe Zhang; Zhengui Yang; Mengmeng Wen; Huiyu Huang; Ruiping Zheng; Weijian Wang; Yarui Wei; Jingliang Cheng; Shaoqiang Han; Yong Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.679437

Structural and Functional Brain Abnormalities in Internet Gaming Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Comparative Meta-Analysis

Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 1:12:679437. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.679437. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Xinyu Gao^{1

2

3}, Mengzhe Zhang^{1

2

3}, Zhengui Yang^{1

2

3}, Mengmeng Wen^{1

2

3}, Huiyu Huang^{1

2

3}, Ruiping Zheng^{1

2

3}, Weijian Wang^{1

2

3}, Yarui Wei^{1

2

3}, Jingliang Cheng^{1

2

3}, Shaoqiang Han^{1

2

3}, Yong Zhang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Molecular Imaging of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China.
³ Engineering Technology Research Center for Detection and Application of Brain Function of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Patients with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have high comorbidity but it is still unknown whether these disorders have shared and distinctive neuroimage alterations. Objective: The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify shared and disorder-specific structural, functional, and multimodal abnormalities between IGD and ADHD. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted for whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies comparing people with IGD or ADHD with healthy controls. Regional gray matter volume (GMV) and fMRI differences were compared over the patient groups and then a quantitative comparison was performed to find abnormalities (relative to controls) between IGD and ADHD using seed-based d mapping meta-analytic methods. Result: The meta-analysis contained 14 IGD VBM studies (contrasts covering 333 IGDs and 335 HCs), 26 ADHD VBM studies (1,051 patients with ADHD and 887 controls), 30 IGD fMRI studies (603 patients with IGD and 564 controls), and 29 ADHD fMRI studies (878 patients with ADHD and 803 controls). Structurally, VBM analysis showed disorder-specific GMV abnormality in the putamen among IGD subjects and orbitofrontal cortex in ADHD and shared GMV in the prefrontal cortex. Functionally, fMRI analysis discovered that IGD-differentiating increased activation in the precuneus and shared abnormal activation in anterior cingulate cortex, insular, and striatum. Conclusion: IGD and ADHD have shared and special structural and functional alterations. IGD has disorder-differentiating structural alterations in the putamen and ADHD has alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex. Disorder-differentiating fMRI activations were predominantly observed in the precuneus among IGD subjects and shared impairing function connection was in the rewards circuit (including ACC, OFC, and striatum).

Keywords: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; functional connectivity; internet gaming disorder; rewards circuit; voxel-based morphometry.

Publication types

Systematic Review