ABSTRACT
Objective To detect the neuronal network activity of specific brain areas in heroin addicts under craving state induced by heroin related cues with independent component analysis (ICA) of functional MRI (fMRI) data. Methods Fifteen heroin addicts,admitted to our hospital from February 2010 to December 2010, and 15 healthy controls were recruited in the case-control study; they were performed whole brain scan with 3.0Tesla MR scanner when being presented with heroin related cues.ICA was performed on these data and their neuronal network activities were compared. Results As compared with those in the controls,the bilateral prefrontal cortex,the left anterior cingulated cortex,the bilateral posterior cingulated cortex, the left inferior temporal gyrus and the left parietal lobe enjoyed obviously decreased activity, while bilateral nucleus accumbens, the right hippocampus, part of the temporal lobe and the occipital lobe enjoyed significantly increased activity (P＜0.05). Conclusion ICA is an advanced approach to identify fMRI data induced by related cues; the specific neuroanatomy mediated to cue-elicited heroin craving mostly locates in the learn-memory system and reward system,which involves the frontal cortex,the parietal lobe,the anterior eingulate,the posterior cingulate,the hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the changes of functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in online game addicts during the resting state,and to analyze the function of ACC in the pathogenesis of online game addiction from a perspective of resting-state functional connectivity.Methods Seventeen online game addicts treated in our hospital from March 2011 to October 2011 were recruited as addiction group and 17 healthy controls at the same period were recruited as HC group.The baseline characteristics of all 34 subjects were investigated and compared between the addiction group and the HC group.All fMRI data were preprocessed after a resting-state fMRI scan,and then,the left and right anterior cingulate cortexes were selected as regions of interest (ROIs) to calculate the linear correlation between the ACC and the entire brain to compare the differences between the online game addicts and normal controls.Results Obvious differences between the addiction group and HC group were noted in hours and days of online game using and degree of thirst to play online games (P＜0.05);within the functional connectivity of ACC during the resting state,in contrast to the controls,the online game addicts showed increased connectivity with posterior cingulate,medium cingulate,midbrain,nucleus accumbens and supplementary motor area,but reduced connectivity with prefrontal cortex,temporal lobe and occipital lobe (P＜0.05).Conclusion Altered functional connectivity of the ACC reflects the dysfunction in ACC of online game addicts,which may be linked to the forming and maintaining of the online game addiction.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the reaction patterns of impulsiveness and risk-taking decision-making in heroin addicts and their significance.Methods Seventeen heroin addicts(HA group)admitted to Detoxification and Rehabilitation Center of Anhui Province from July 2010 to December 2010 and 18 healthy controls(HC group)recruited at the same period were performed Iowa gambling task(IGT)and Risky-Gains task(RGT),respectively; the different capacities of impulsiveness control and risk-taking decision-making between HA group and HC group were compared.Results As for IGT,decision-making course affected the net scores remarkably in HC group,whereas contrary result was observed in HA group(P＜0.05); no statistical difference between the numbers of low-frequency punishment cards and high-frequency punishment cards which subjects selected was noted in HA group,while statistical difference was observed in HC group(P＜0.05).Furthermore,the difference between the number of low-frequency punishment cards and high-frequency punishment cards in HC group was higher than that in HA group(P＜0.05).In RGT,as compared with risky response rate before punishment,risky response rate after punishment declined notably in HC group,while no significant changes were seen in HA group; risky response rate after reward and after punishment in HA group were significantly higher than those in HC group(P＜0.05).Conclusion As evidence of chronic heroin addicts' behavior,heroin addict exsits impulsiveness and deficit in risk-taking decision-making,which may be one of the causes of generation and maintenance of heroin addiction.