Abnormal reward and punishment sensitivity associated with Internet addicts

Internet addiction is an important phenomenon in the modern world and is becoming a hot research topic. In light of previous studies, we investigate the potential relationship between Internet addiction and risk decision-making, as well as the sensitivity to reward and punishment, among college students. Thirty-two volunteers were allocated to the Internet addiction group and the non-addiction group according to the Internet addiction diagnostic criteria from Tao et al. Both groups finished a simple gambling task with electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. Behavioral results showed that the Internet addiction group performed at a higher risk level compared to the non-addiction group. Regarding the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by outcome feedback during decision-making, the Internet addiction group exhibited a smaller feedback-related negativity (FRN) but a larger P300 than the non-addiction group in the small magnitude condition, which may indicate weaker punishment sensitivity and stronger reward sensitivity, respectively.