Neural correlate of Internet use in patients undergoing psychological treatment for Internet addiction.

BACKGROUND: The new version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5th) proposed the Internet Gaming Disorder for the diagnosis of Internet addiction (IA) considering the neurobiological evidence of the craving. AIMS: The aim was to test the neural correlate in response to the Internet cue in patients with IA. METHODS: Sixteen males with IA diagnosis (clinical group) and 14 healthy male (control group) were recruited for an experimental visual task composed of Internet images and emotional images. During the visual presentation of Internet cue, electroencefalographic data were recorded using Net Station 4.5.1 with a 256-channels HydroCel Geodesic Sensor Net. Event-related potential (ERP) components and low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLoreta) were analysed. RESULTS: sLoreta analyses showed that patients from the clinical group presented a higher primary somatosensorial cortex and lower paralimbic, temporal and orbito-frontal activation in response to both Internet and emotional images compared to those of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that clinically recognized pathological use of Internet could be linked to dissociative symptoms.

Relationship between craving and plasma leptin concentrations in patients with cocaine addiction.

BACKGROUND: There is robust evidence indicating an overlap between neurobiological circuitry and pathways that regulate addictions and those that regulate appetite and food intake. Rodent work suggests a role of the appetitive peptide leptin in cocaine-seeking behaviours. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between plasma leptin concentrations and cocaine craving and use in patients seeking treatment for cocaine dependence. METHODS: Patients (N=43) with a DSM-IV diagnosis of cocaine dependence were studied before starting detoxification (baseline; T0) and then again 14days after (T1; only those patients who abstained from cocaine during the study). Blood samples for plasma leptin concentrations were collected and cocaine craving was assessed using the Brief Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (Brief-CCQ). Food craving was also assessed using a food Visual Analogue Scale (f-VAS). Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) was used to evaluate impulsivity. RESULTS: Plasma leptin concentrations at T0 significantly correlated with baseline Brief-CCQ scores (r=0.34, p<0.05). Furthermore, plasma leptin concentrations at T1 significantly correlated with the baseline amount of cocaine used (r=0.5, p<0.05). There were no significant correlations between plasma leptin concentrations and f-VAS scores either at T0 or T1 (p's>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests a potential relationship between plasma leptin concentrations and cocaine craving and use. Future mechanistic studies are needed to determine whether manipulations of leptin signalling may lead to novel pharmacological approaches to treat cocaine addiction.

Is Internet addiction a psychopathological condition distinct from pathological gambling?

AIMS: The behavioural-addiction perspective suggests that Internet addiction (IA) and pathological gambling (PG) could share similar characteristics with substance dependence. Despite the similarities between IA and PG, it is not clear whether these disorders share different or similar psychopathological conditions. The aim of the present study was to test whether IA patients presented different psychological symptoms, temperamental traits, coping strategies and relational patterns compared with PG patients. The hypothesis was that IA patients will show greater interpersonal disengagement than PG patients. METHODS: Two clinical groups (31 IA patients and 11 PG patients) and a control group (38 healthy subjects) matched with the clinical groups for gender and age were enrolled. The clinical groups were gathered in a psychiatric service for IA and PG in a hospital. Anxiety, depression, coping strategies, attachment, temperament, and global assessment of functioning were measured. MANOVAs, ANOVAs and post-hoc comparisons were carried out in order to test the hypothesis. RESULTS: Despite IA and PG showing similar differences with the control group on the levels of depression, anxiety and global functioning, the two clinical groups showed different temperamental, coping and social patterns. Specifically IA patients compared with the PG patients showed a greater mental and behavioural disengagement associated with an important interpersonal impairment. The two clinical groups shared an impulsive coping strategy and socio-emotional impairments. CONCLUSIONS: Despite IA and PG patients presenting similar clinical symptoms, IA condition was characterised by a more relevant mental, behavioural, and social disengagement compared to PG condition.