Imbalance of habit-based versus goal-directed learning in internet gaming disorder: evidence from fMRI and behavioral performance.

IF 3.9 2区医学 Q1 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-10-12 DOI:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111524

Hui Zheng, Xuefeng Ma, Min Wang, Ziliang Wang, Chunlei Lu, Guang-Heng Dong

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The balance between habit control action and goal-directed action of the instrumental learning processes contributes to the development and maintenance of addictive behavior. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this imbalance in internet gaming disorder (IGD) remain unexplored.

Methods: Functional MRI data were collected from 26 IGD and 28 matched recreational game users (RGU) during a discriminative instrumental learning task. Behavioral performance and task-related brain activation was compared between the IGD and RGU. Correlations between addiction severity (IAT scores) and neural/behavioral measures were analyzed.

Results: Compared with RGU, the IGD group exhibited poorer behavioral performance, characterized by hyperactivation in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral precuneus, bilateral lingual gyrus, and left precentral gyrus, alongside hypoactivation in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Notably, addictive severity scores negatively correlated with accuracy in the outcome devaluation stage, indicating a reliance on habitual control.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that IGD is associated with a shift from goal-directed to habit-based control, marked by dysfunctional engagement of prefrontal-striatal circuits. This imbalance may underlie the compulsive gaming behaviors observed in IGD, offering novel insights into its neurocognitive mechanisms.

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网络游戏障碍中习惯与目标导向学习的不平衡：来自功能磁共振成像和行为表现的证据。

背景：工具性学习过程中习惯控制作用和目标导向作用之间的平衡有助于成瘾行为的发展和维持。然而，网络游戏障碍（IGD）中这种不平衡的神经机制仍未被探索。方法：收集26名IGD和28名匹配的休闲游戏用户（RGU）在辨别性工具学习任务中的功能MRI数据。比较IGD组和RGU组的行为表现和任务相关脑活动。分析成瘾严重程度（IAT评分）与神经/行为测量之间的相关性。结果：与RGU相比，IGD组表现出较差的行为表现，表现为右侧额下回、双侧楔前叶、双侧舌回和左侧中央前回过度激活，左侧额下回低激活。值得注意的是，成瘾严重程度得分与结果贬值阶段的准确性呈负相关，表明对习惯控制的依赖。讨论：我们的研究结果表明，IGD与从目标导向到基于习惯的控制的转变有关，其特征是前额叶-纹状体回路的功能失调。这种不平衡可能是在IGD中观察到的强迫性游戏行为的基础，为其神经认知机制提供了新的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

1.80%

发文量

153

审稿时长

56 days

期刊介绍： Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry is an international and multidisciplinary journal which aims to ensure the rapid publication of authoritative reviews and research papers dealing with experimental and clinical aspects of neuro-psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry. Issues of the journal are regularly devoted wholly in or in part to a topical subject. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry does not publish work on the actions of biological extracts unless the pharmacological active molecular substrate and/or specific receptor binding properties of the extract compounds are elucidated.