Regulation of Craving in Internet Gamers
Condition: Internet Gaming Disorder
MeSH terms: Internet Addiction Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This project aims to investigate (1) the behavioral and neural mechanisms of regulation of
      craving in Internet gamers; (2) effects of tDCS over the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex
      (dlPFC) on craving and regulation of craving and aversive emotions in this population. (3)
      effects of tDCS over dlPFC on attentional bias towards gaming related cues.This project will
      be conducted in Beijing, China, based on a large sample of Internet gamers.
    

Detailed description: 
      As with the experiment about tDCS effects on regulation of craving and aversive emotions, the
      experiment aims to test whether tDCS over dlPFC will enhance cognitive regulation of craving
      and aversive emotions. It is a within-subject, sham-controlled, double-blind design. Each
      participant receive both active and sham tDCS of dlPFC in a randomized order separated by one
      week. During both active and sham tDCS sessions, participants will perform regulation of
      craving (ROC) and emotion regulation (ER) tasks. In the ROC task, participants will be asked
      to downregulate and upregulate craving elicited by gaming pictures using cognitive
      reappraisal. In the ER task, participants will be asked to downregulate and upregulate
      aversive feelings elicited by negative pictures using cognitive reappraisal. During these
      tasks, self-report ratings and skin conductance responses (SCRs) will be recorded. The
      cognitive regulation ability is indexed by rating and SCRs differences between the up- and
      downregulation conditions.

      As with the experiment about tDCS effects on attentional bias, the experiment aims to test
      whether tDCS over dlPFC will enhance inhibitory control of attentional bias towards gaming
      related cues. The inhibitory control of attentional bias will be measured by a cognitive task
      in which participants will perform a number classification task with gaming pictures and
      non-gaming pictures being distractors. The experiment is a within-subject, sham-controlled,
      double-blind design. Each participant will receive both active and sham tDCS of dlPFC in a
      randomized order separated by one week. After each tDCS session, participants will complete
      the cognitive task assessing inhibitory control of attentional bias. During the task,
      reaction times (RTs) wil be recorded. The attentional bias is indexed by RTs differences
      between trials with gaming pictures and trials with non-gaming pictures.
    

Intervention name(s): active tDCS on the dlPFC; sham tDCS on the dlPFC
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): During active tDCS session, participants will perform the regulation of craving (ROC) and emotion regulation (ER) tasks. In the ROC task, participants will downregulate and upregulate craving elicited by gaming pictures using cognitive reappraisal. In the ER task, participants will downregulate and upregulate aversive feelings by negative pictures using cognitive reappraisal. After the active tDCS session, participants will complete a cognitive task assessing inhibitory control of attentional bias, in which participants will perform a number classification task with gaming pictures and non-gaming pictures being distractors. During the task, reaction times (RTs) wil be recorded.; During the sham tDCS session, participants will perform the regulation of craving (ROC) and emotion regulation (ER) tasks. In the ROC task, participants will downregulate and upregulate craving elicited by gaming pictures using cognitive reappraisal. In the ER task, participants will downregulate and upregulate aversive feelings by negative pictures using cognitive reappraisal. After the sham tDCS session, participants will complete a cognitive task assessing inhibitory control of attentional bias, in which participants will perform a number classification task with gaming pictures and non-gaming pictures being distractors. During the task, reaction times (RTs) wil be recorded.
Other intervention name(s): tDCS; tDCS
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Intervention model description: within-subject, sham-controlled design: all subjects will receive active and sham tDCS in a randomized order
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science