Exploring Emotional Processing In Individuals At High Risk In Internet Gaming Disorder And Potential Intervention Via Oxytocin

Internet Gaming Disorder(IGD)was defined as excessively addicted to online games and loss of control over playing time,resulting in serious consequences for daily life and social functions.Previous studies have shown that IGD players show cognitive impairment,such as abnormal game cravings caused by addictive cues,inhibitory control impairment,abnormal decision-making related to reward processing,and dysfunctions caused by long-term game behavior.On the other hand,previous studies have also shown that IGD players also have abnormalities in emotional processing,such as depression and anxiety symptoms,hostility,and abnormal emotional cognition and control.Although some studies have been conducted on the cognitive functions and emotional processing impairments of IGD,most research mainly focused on the late stage of IGD and ignores the abnormal processing of game-related cues and emotional problems in the early stage of IGD development,which were discussed independently in studies.These two processing might have an internal relationship in reinforcement learning,which play an important role in the development of IGD.For emotional studies of IGD,most studies emphasize the abnormalities in processing basic emotions but neglect the motivation function and social function of emotions,such as the positive emotional experiences in gaming and social interactions.For the treatments of IGD,behavioral and pharmaceutical therapy have achieved some positive goals,but also have many adverse effects.Behavioral therapy needs to take a long time and get a weak effect.Even though drugs can get positive results,but with serious side effects.Oxytocin(OXT)is a safe neuropeptide with almost no side effects.It is closely related to reward processing,emotional processing,and addiction.Previous studies have shown that it has a significant improvement effect on substance addiction.this dissertation used three studies to explore the abnormal game-related cue processing and basic emotional processing in the early stage of IGD,the impact of positive emotional experiences on game craving in gaming and social situations,and the regulatory role of OXT on game craving and the promotion of emotion regulation.In study I,a cross and longitudinal mixed experiment design has used to explore the abnormal game-related cues and basic emotional processing in the early stage of IGD.The results showed that there was no difference between IGD players and non-game players in the processing of emotional stimuli,but stronger neural activity for IGD players compared to non-game players in the processing of game-related stimuli,mainly reflected in DMN,rated network,dorsal parietal attention network,and visual network.After six weeks of training,non-game players showed stronger neural activity to game-related stimuli,mainly reflected in the post of DMN,especially posterior cingulate cortex(PCC),and the core area of the visual network,right middle occipital gryus(r MOG).In study II,the impact of positive emotional experiences on game craving and the modulation effect of OXT on game craving in different situations had been investigated.OXT had no effect on improving the positive emotional experiences that have been experienced in the game and social situations,but the positive emotional experience can significantly improve the game craving of IGD players.OXT can effectively inhibit this promotion while promoting the resistance of game craving through positive emotional experiences in the social situation.At the neural level,OXT regulated brain activities in two ways: one way is to inhibit brain activity in the gaming memory recall,mainly including executive control network and inhibition control brain area,inferior frontal gyrus(IFG);The other way is to inhibit the activities of brain areas in the gaming memory recall,and improve the activity of relevant brain areas in the social memory recall,mainly including the brain regions related to semantic processing,visual processing,self-related processing,and memory coding,which play an important role in constructing situational memory.The connectivity analysis also shows that OXT can enhance the functional connectivity between the hippocampus of the memory-coding brain area and the lingual gyrus during social memory recall,and strengthen the functional connectivity between the default network and the reward system.In study III,an emotional regulation paradigm had conducted to investigate the role of OXT in improving the regulation ability of IGD players for negative emotions.The results showed that OXT could improve the emotional regulation of IGD players on negative emotions at the behavioral level.At the neural level,the OXT could enhance the activities of the cuneus,related to self-processing,and striatum during emotional regulation,and inhibit the activities of the lingual gyrus and hippocampus.The connectivity analysis also shows that OXT can enhance the functional connectivity between the lateral amygdala and the dorsolateral frontal gyrus and reduce the functional connectivity between the lateral amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex(ACC)during emotional regulation.To sum up,this dissertation found that there were no abnormalities in emotional processing,but in the processing of game-related cues in the early stage of IGD,which was related to long-term game behavior.Secondly,the results showed that the positive emotional experiences in gaming situations can significantly improve the carving for game behavior,while OXT can reduce the induction effect caused by positive emotional experiences,and promote the resistance of the positive emotional experiences in social situations to the game craving.Third,OXT can improve the negative emotional regulation ability of IGD players.The research results showed that OXT has great potential for treatment therapy of IGD.First,OXT can effectively inhibit the impact of past game behaviors on current game behaviors,cut off the reinforcement cycle of positive emotions on game behaviors,and reduce game behaviors;Second,OXT can promote social processing through enhance the positive emotional experiences in social situations,and reduce the craving to seek positive emotional experiences in gaming.Third,OXT can improve the regulation of negative emotions,thus reducing the carving to seek positive emotional experiences in gaming.Therefore,the results provided solid evidences to show that OXT has a significant effect on reducing the symptoms of IGD,especially in inhibiting the craving for gaming and promoting social interaction.