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Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is a newly identified potential addiction disorder associated with compulsive internet-game playing behavior and attentional bias toward online gaming- related cues. Attentional bias toward addiction-related cues is the core feature of addiction that is associated with craving, but the pathophysiology of attentional bias in IGD is not well-understood, such as its relationship to compulsivity. In this study, we used the electrophysiological marker of late positive potential (LPP) to compare attentional bias in IGD and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Twenty patients with IGD, 20 patients with OCD, and 23 healthy control (HC) subjects viewed a series of game-related, OCD-related, and neutral pictures while their event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The game-related cues included in-game screen captures of popular internet games. The OCD-related cues included pictures which provokes obsessive and compulsive symptoms of contamination/washing or checking. LPPs were calculated as the mean value of amplitudes between 350 and 750 ms at the centro-parietal (CP1, CPz, CP2) and parietal (P1, Pz, P2) electrode sites. Higher LPP amplitudes were found for game-related cues in the IGD group than in the HCs, and higher LPP amplitudes were observed in the OCD group for OCD-related cues. The IGD group did not exhibit LPP changes in response to OCD-related cues. Subjective scales demonstrated increased arousal to game-related cues and OCD-related cues in both the IGD and OCD groups compared with the HC group. Increased LPPs in response to disorder-specific cues (game-related and OCD-related) were found in both IGD and OCD groups respectively, although the groups showed overlapping arousal on subjective scales. Our results indicate that LPP is a candidate neurophysiological marker for cue-related craving in IGD.

Aims: The present study investigated neural connectivity associated with treatment responses in patients with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) using resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) coherence analyses.Methods: We included 30 patients with IGD and 32 healthy control subjects (HCs). Of the IGD patients, 18 completed an outpatient treatment that included pharmacotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for 6 months. Resting-state EEG coherence and self-report questionnaires were used to evaluate clinical and psychological features pre- and post-treatment, and data were analyzed using generalized estimating equations.Results: Compared with HCs, patients with IGD showed increased beta and gamma intrahemispheric coherence and increased delta intrahemispheric coherence of the right hemisphere at baseline. After 6 months of outpatient management, patients with IGD exhibited improvements in IGD symptoms compared with baseline, but they continued to show increased beta and gamma intrahemispheric coherence compared with that of HCs. No significant EEG coherence changes between the pre- and post-treatment assessments were detected in any band in the IGD group.Conclusion: These findings suggest that significantly greater intrahemispheric fast-frequency coherence may be an important neurophysiological trait marker of patients with IGD.