Addiction in general is an ancient disorder, but some addictions are more modern. One of those that stands out for its great impact on life is internet addiction that can affect young populations such as adolescents. All this has led an important body of researchers to study the way in which this addictive behavior is related to the brain in these boys and girls. One such study has been carried out by Fuchun Lin and several collaborators from various Chinese research entities.
Various alterations in the brain structure of the brain of people with this addiction have been described. Specifically, it seems that the prefrontal cortex and the striatum show differences both in their structure and in their functioning when compared to those of people without internet addiction.
However, there is still quite a lack of knowledge about what happens at other levels, such as what happens in the circuits that link the cortex with these striated areas . Finding out this has been the fundamental objective of the work of Lin and his team, a work whose results have recently been published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2015).
The experiment had the participation of 14 adolescents with internet addiction disorder and 15 healthy adolescents as a control group. Researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging at rest and have performed neuropsychological evaluations on all participants, including variables such as impulsivity, time management or emotional disorders related to anxiety.
The results showed that there are different connection patterns between the circuits that link different areas of the brain. Less connectivity was found between different areas of structures such as the striated nucleus or the caudate nucleus with areas of the cingulate, the thalamus or the inferior frontal gyrus . Greater connectivity was also recorded between a structure known as the putamen and an area of the cingulate cortex .
In general, we find that there are altered connections between the structures dedicated to the processing of emotions, motivation and mental processes such as cognitive control . In addition, alterations in neural connectivity were significantly correlated with the result in neuropsychological tests, showing a relationship between what was observed at the neural level and the behavior of adolescents with internet addiction.
Hopefully all these findings will allow us to find more effective ways to treat this pathology that causes so much havoc in the lives of those who suffer from it.
Marisa Fernández is a Senior Neuropsychologist at Unobrain
