Neural mechanisms of intertemporal and risky decision-making in individuals with internet use disorder: A perspective from directed functional connectivity

Background and aims: The intertemporal and risk decision-making impairments are vital cognitive mechanisms in internet use disorder (IUD). However, the underlying neural mechanisms for these two decision-making dysfunctions in individuals with IUD remain unclear. Methods: This study employed Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record changes in blood oxygen concentration in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with IUD during intertemporal and risk decision-making tasks. Results: The findings revealed that the intertemporal decision-making deficits in IUD group were primarily associated with reduced activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and FC from the left dlPFC to the right dlPFC. On the other hand, risk decision-making impairments were linked to decreased OFC activation and weakened functional connectivity from the left dlPFC to the right dlPFC and OFC. Discussions and Conslusions: These results suggested that while there were common neural mechanisms underlying intertemporal and risk decision-making impairments in individuals with IUD, specific neural foundations existed for each type of dysfunction.