Psychiatry research
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Psychiatry research · Jan 2010
The characteristics of decision making, potential to take risks, and personality of college students with Internet addiction.
This study aimed to identify risk factors involved in Internet addiction. A total of 216 college students (132 males and 84 females) were given the following: (a) the diagnostic interview for Internet addiction, (b) the Iowa gambling test for decision-making deficits, (c) the Balloon Analog Risk Test (BART) to assess risk-taking tendencies, and (d) the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) for personality characteristics. ⋯ Their higher performance on the Iowa gambling test differentiates the Internet addiction group from the substance use and pathologic gambling groups that have been shown to be deficient in decision making on the Iowa test. Thus, students that fit these characteristics should be closely monitored to prevent Internet addiction.
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Psychiatry research · Jan 2010
Loss of laterality in chronic cocaine users: an fMRI investigation of sensorimotor control.
Movement disturbances are often overlooked consequences of chronic cocaine abuse. The purpose of this study was to systematically investigate sensorimotor performance in chronic cocaine users and characterize changes in brain activity among movement-related regions of interest (ROIs) in these users. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from 14 chronic cocaine users and 15 age- and gender-matched controls. ⋯ Whereas the controls used a left-sided network of motor-related brain areas to perform the task, cocaine users activated a less lateralized pattern of brain activity. Users had significantly more activity in the ipsilateral (right) motor and premotor cortical areas, anterior cingulate cortex and the putamen than controls. These data demonstrate that, in addition to the cognitive and affective consequences of chronic cocaine abuse, there are also pronounced alterations in sensorimotor control in these individuals, which are associated with functional alterations throughout movement-related neural networks.