Brain Neuroadaptative Changes in Adolescents with Internet Addiction：An FDG-PET Study with Statistical Parametric Mapping Analysis

Abstract

Objectives：Internet addiction or pathologic internet use is one of the major mental health problems in children and adolescents in Korea. Internet addiction is defined as uncontrollable, markedly time-consuming internet use, which lasts for a period of at least six months. Internet addiction results in poor academic performance and negative parent-child relationships. By using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), we investigated the effects of internet addiction on functional changes occurring in the adolescent brain. Methods：Adolescent patients with an internet addiction (4 boys and 2 girls；15.6±1.2 years) participated in this study. Eight healthy young adults (5 males and 3 females；18-30 years old) with no previous history of psychiatric illness also participated as normal controls. Brain FDG-PET data was obtained with the participants in the resting condition and with no addictive stimuli. Results：Statistic parametric mapping analysis of the brain FDG-PET data revealed hypometabolic changes in the visual information processing circuits and hypermetabolic changes in the prefrontal areas in the adolescents with internet addiction, as compared with normal controls (p<.001). Conclusion：These results suggest a neuronal adaptation to excessive visual stimulation and synaptic plasticity due to internet addiction.