The role of emotional inhibitory control in specific internet addiction – an fMRI study
Abstract
Background Addicts to specific internet applications involving communication features showed increased social anxiety, emotional competence deficits and impaired prefrontal-related inhibitory control. The dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC) likely plays an important role in cognitive control and negative affect (such as social exclusion, pain or anxiety).Aim To assess (social) anxiety-related inhibitory control in specific internet addiction (addicted use of games and social networks) and its relation to altered dACC activation.Methods N=44 controls and n=51 specific internet addicts completed an anxious words-based Affective Go/No-Go task (AGN). A subsample of n=23 healthy controls and n=25 specific internet addicts underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while completing an Emotional Stroop Task (EST) with socially anxious, positive, negative and neutral words. Subgroups of internet gaming and social network addicts were exploratively assessed. Psychometric measures of social anxiety, emotional competence and impulsivity were additionally explored.Results Specific internet addicts showed higher impulsivity, social anxiety and reduced emotional competence. Between-group differences in AGN and EST behavioral measures were not detected. No group differences were found in the dACC, but explorative analyses revealed decreased left middle and superior temporal gyrus activation during interference of socially anxious words in internet gaming and relative to social network addicts.Conclusion Given the function of the left middle temporal gyrus in the retrieval of words or expressions during communication, our findings give a first hint that social words might be less retrievable in the semantic storage of internet gaming addicts, possibly indicating deficiencies in handling speech in social situations.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There are recent publications on structural and functional neuroimaging findings of poorly controlled and problematic use of social network sites and other internet-communication applications.
“Although not yet recognized as a clinical condition, there are also recent publications on structural and functional neuroimaging fi ndings of poorly controlled and problematic use of social network sites and other internet-communication applications (e.g., Dieter et al., 2017; He et al., 2017; Lemenager et al., 2016; Montag et al., 2017, 2018; Turel and Qahri-Saremi, 2016)”
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Williams, J. B. W., & First, M. B. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.104 · Cited by 109,841 · see citing works
A Global Measure of Perceived Stress
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2136404 · Cited by 32,807 · see citing works
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/springerreference_121117 · Cited by 20,769 · see citing works
Binder, J. R., Desai, R. H., Graves, W. W., & Conant, L. L. (2009) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp055 · Cited by 4,060 · see citing works
MacDonald, A. W., Cohen, J. D., Stenger, V. A., & Carter, C. S. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.288.5472.1835 · Cited by 3,666 · see citing works
Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: the NEO personality inventory
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.5 · Cited by 3,414 · see citing works
Motivations for Play in Online Games
Yee, N. (2006) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.772 · Cited by 2,939 · see citing works
The emotional Stroop task and psychopathology
Williams, J. M. G., Mathews, A., & MacLeod, C. (1996) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.120.1.3 · Cited by 2,420 · see citing works
Hickok, G., & Poeppel, D. (2004) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2003.10.011 · Cited by 2,212 · see citing works
Brand, M., Young, K. S., Laier, C., Wölfling, K., & Potenza, M. N. (2016) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.033 · Cited by 2,153 · cited 6× · see citing works
“[4] and empirical findings suggesting increased social and general anxiety, emotion regulation deficits and impaired inhibitory control in internet addiction of specific applications linked to social communication, the present study aims to assess neuropsychological and neurobiological differences in emotional inhibit…”
BackgroundInfluentialThe spatial and temporal signatures of word production components
Indefrey, P., & Levelt, W. J. M. (2004) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2002.06.001 · Cited by 2,144 · see citing works
The integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex
Shackman, A. J., Salomons, T. V., Slagter, H. A., Fox, A. S., Winter, J. J., & Davidson, R. J. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2994 · Cited by 2,082 · see citing works
Dysfunction in the neural circuitry of emotion regulation–a possible prelude to violence
Davidson, R. J., Putnam, K. M., & Larson, C. L. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.289.5479.591 · Cited by 1,894 · see citing works
Meta-analyzing left hemisphere language areas: phonology, semantics, and sentence processing.
Vigneau, M., Beaucousin, V., Hervé, P. Y., Duffau, H., Crivello, F., Houdé, O., Mazoyer, B., & Tzourio-Mazoyer, N. (2006) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.11.002 · Cited by 1,851 · see citing works
Emotion regulation and mental health
Gross, J. J., & Muñoz, R. F. (1995) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.1995.tb00036.x · Cited by 1,595 · see citing works
An integrated theory of language production and comprehension
Pickering, M. J., & Garrod, S. (2013) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x12001495 · Cited by 1,569 · see citing works
Robinson, T. E., & Berridge, K. C. (2003) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145237 · Cited by 1,509 · see citing works
Etkin, A., Egner, T., Peraza, D. M., Kandel, E. R., & Hirsch, J. (2006) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.07.029 · Cited by 1,360 · see citing works
Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain
Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2004) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.05.010 · Cited by 1,246 · see citing works
Relations among loneliness, social anxiety, and problematic Internet use
Caplan, S. E. (2007) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9963 · Cited by 948 · see citing works
Loneliness and social uses of the Internet
Morahan-Martin, J. M., & Schumacher, P. A. (2003) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0747-5632(03)00040-2 · Cited by 737 · see citing works
Prefrontal involvement in the regulation of emotion: convergence of rat and human studies
Quirk, G. J., & Beer, J. S. (2006) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.conb.2006.07.004 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
Psychosocial causes and consequences of pathological gaming
Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2010) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.015 · Cited by 624 · see citing works
Brand, M., Young, K. S., & Laier, C. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00375 · Cited by 565 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is suggested to be involved in the cognitive selection of sensory information [26] and the orbitofrontal cortex is related to reward anticipation as well as decision making under ambiguity [28,29].”
BackgroundSpecificity of social anxiety disorder as a risk factor for alcohol and cannabis dependence
Buckner, J. D., Schmidt, N. B., Lang, A. R., Small, J. W., Schlauch, R. C., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (2008) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2007.01.002 · Cited by 506 · see citing works
Internet gaming addiction: current perspectives
Kuss, D. (2013) · Psychology Research and Behavior Management · doi:10.2147/prbm.s39476 · Cited by 498 · see citing works
Koc, M., & Gulyagci, S. (2013) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0249 · Cited by 487 · see citing works
Goldin, P. R., Manber, T., Hakimi, S., Canli, T., & Gross, J. J. (2009) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.525 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
Understanding Online Gaming Addiction and Treatment Issues for Adolescents
YOUNG, K. S. (2009) · American Journal of Family Therapy · doi:10.1080/01926180902942191 · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Hormes, J. M., Kearns, B., & Timko, C. A. (2014) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.12713 · Cited by 398 · see citing works
Microstructure Abnormalities in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder
Yuan, K., Qin, W., Wang, G., Zeng, F., Zhao, L., Yang, X., Liu, P., Liu, J., Sun, J., von Deneen, K. M., et al. (2011) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020708 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
SKID. Strukturiertes Klinisches Interview für DSM-IV. Achse I und II. Handanweisung
Wïttchen, H., Zaudig, M., & Fydrich, T. (1997) · Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Milham, M. P., Banich, M. T., Claus, E. D., & Cohen, N. J. (2003) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/s1053-8119(02)00050-2 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Schulz, K. P., FAN, J., MAGIDINA, O., Marks, D. J., Hahn, B. J., & HALPERIN, J. (2007) · Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology · doi:10.1016/j.acn.2006.12.001 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Dong, G., Lu, Q., Zhou, H., & Zhao, X. (2010) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2010.09.002 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Ding, W.-N., Sun, J.-H., Sun, Y.-W., Chen, X., Zhou, Y., Zhuang, Z.-G., Li, L., Zhang, Y., Xu, J.-R., & Du, Y.-S. (2014) · Behavioral and Brain Functions · doi:10.1186/1744-9081-10-20 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Dong, G., DeVito, E. E., Du, X., & Cui, Z. (2012) · Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.02.001 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
Drinking to cope, emotional distress and alcohol use and abuse: a ten-year model
Holahan, C. J., Moos, R. H., Holahan, C. K., Cronkite, R. C., & Randall, P. K. (2001) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol · doi:10.15288/jsa.2001.62.190 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Problematic Internet use, loneliness and dating anxiety among young adult university students
Odacı, H., & Kalkan, M. (2010) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.05.006 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Dong, G., Huang, J., & Du, X. (2011) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.06.017 · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Elliott, R., Ogilvie, A. D., Rubinsztein, J. S., Calderon, G., Dolan, R. J., & Sahakian, B. J. (2004) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.03.007 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Lee-Won, R. J., Herzog, L., & Park, S. G. (2015) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0002 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Is excessive online usage a function of medium or activity?: An empirical pilot study
Griffiths, M. D., & Szabo, A. (2014) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/jba.2.2013.016 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Jin, C., Zhang, T., Cai, C., Bi, Y., Li, Y., Yu, D., Zhang, M., & Yuan, K. (2015) · Brain Imaging and Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11682-015-9439-8 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Dieter, J., Hill, H., Sell, M., Reinhard, I., Vollstädt-Klein, S., Kiefer, F., Mann, K., & Lemenager, T. (2015) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/bne0000025 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Self-citationMotor cognition–motor semantics: Action perception theory of cognition and communication
Friedemann Pulvermüller, A., Moseley, R. L., Egorova, N., Shebani, Z., & Véronique Boulenger, A. (2013) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.12.002 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Wang, H., Jin, C., Yuan, K., Shakir, T. M., Mao, C., Niu, X., Niu, C., Guo, L., & Zhang, M. (2015) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00064 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
The role of the anterior cingulate cortex in emotional response inhibition
Albert, J., López‐Martín, S., Tapia, M., Montoya, D. A. C., & Carretié, L. (2011) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.21347 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Lehenbauer, M., Klaps, A., Kovacovsky, Z., Witzmann, K., Zahlbruckner, R., & Stetina, B. U. (2015) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0063 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Suppressing Emotions Impairs Subsequent Stroop Performance and Reduces Prefrontal Brain Activation
Friese, M., Binder, J. C., Luechinger, R., Boesiger, P., & Rasch, B. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060385 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Situations and moods associated with smoking in everyday life.
Shapiro, D., Jamner, L. D., Davydov, D. M., & James, P. (2002) · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1037//0893-164x.16.4.342 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Laier, C., & Brand, M. (2014) · Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity · doi:10.1080/10720162.2014.970722 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Self-Concept Deficits in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games Addiction
Leménager, T., Gwodz, A., Richter, A., Reinhard, I., Kämmerer, N., Sell, M., & Mann, K. F. (2013) · European Addiction Research · doi:10.1159/000345458 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Self-citationLee, J., Lee, S., Chun, J., Cho, H., Kim, D., & Jung, Y. (2015) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0231 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Pontes, H. M., Griffiths, M. D., & Patrão, I. (2014) · RACO (Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert) (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Neural correlates of second-language communication and the effect of language anxiety
Jeong, H., Sugiura, M., Suzuki, W., Sassa, Y., Hashizume, H., & Kawashima, R. (2016) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.02.012 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Smith, D. G., Jones, P., Bullmore, E. T., Robbins, T. W., & Ersche, K. D. (2013) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.05.019 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Situations and moods associated with smoking in everyday life.
Shapiro, D. L., Jamner, L. D., Davydov, D. M., et al. (2002) · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1037/0893-164x.16.4.342 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Wölfling, K. (2012) · Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy · doi:10.4172/2155-6105.s6-003 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Kim, N., Hughes, T. L., Park, C. G., Quinn, L., & Kong, I. D. (2016) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0411 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Witthöft, M., Mier, D. U., Ofer, J., Müller, T., Rist, F., Kirsch, P., Bailer, J., & Diener, C. (2013) · Neuropsychobiology · doi:10.1159/000345545 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationRepresentative reviewers for Internet social media
Choi, S., & Han, Y.-S. (2012) · Expert Systems with Applications · doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2012.08.063 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Lievaart, M., van der Veen, F. M., Huijding, J., Naeije, L., Hovens, J. E., & Franken, I. H. A. (2016) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.12.001 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Neural correlates of second-language communication and the effect of language anxiety
Jeong, H., Sugiura, M., Suzuki, W., Sassa, Y., Hashizume, H., & Kawashima, R. (2014) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.11.013 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Factor structure of the Barratt impulsiveness scale
Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S., & Barratt, E. S. (1995) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/1097-4679(199511)51:6
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Brand, M., Wegmann, E., Stark, R., Müller, A., Wölfling, K., Robbins, T. W., & Potenza, M. N. (2019) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.032 · Cited by 2,126 · see citing works
León Méndez, M., Padrón, I., Fumero, A., & Marrero, R. J. (2024) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105572 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
“However, when comparing SPA and gaming, a decrease in superior temporal activation and left medial temporal activation was found in people with high scores in gaming addiction, but not in SPA (Dieter et al., 2017).”
BackgroundProblematic Social Networking Site use-effects on mental health and the brain
Weinstein, A. M. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1106004 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Impact of social media use on executive function
Reed, P. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107598 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Feng, C., Becker, B., Huang, W., Wu, X., Eickhoff, S. B., & Chen, T. (2018) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.02.023 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dieter, J., Hoffmann, S., Mier, D., Reinhard, I., Beutel, M., Vollstädt-Klein, S., Kiefer, F., Mann, K., & Leménager, T.
- Affiliations
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Dieter, Julia
- ORCID
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-05
- Volume
- 324
- Pages
- 1-14
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2584839716
- Cited by
- 75
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 17.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- KOPS (University of Konstanz) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Sena Arnold
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Keywords
- dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, social anxiety, emotional competence, impulsivity, online game addiction, social network addiction, affective go/no-go task, emotional Stroop task, left middle temporal gyrus, social communication
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Brain, Brain Mapping, Emotions, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Reaction Time, Temporal Lobe, Behavior, Addictive, Video Games, Internet, Executive Function, Stroop Test
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
