Reduced left dorsolateral prefrontal activation in problematic smartphone users during the Stroop task: An fNIRS study

Ming-Qiang Xiang; Long- Lin; Yun-Ting Song; Min Hu; Xiao-Hui Hou

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1097375

Reduced left dorsolateral prefrontal activation in problematic smartphone users during the Stroop task: An fNIRS study

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 9:13:1097375. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1097375. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ming-Qiang Xiang^{1

2}, Long- Lin¹, Yun-Ting Song³, Min Hu^{1

2}, Xiao-Hui Hou^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Sport and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China.
² Guangdong Key Lab of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Scientific Research Center, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Introduction: The widespread use of smartphones has triggered concern over problematic smartphone use (PSPU), as well as the need to elucidate its underlying mechanisms. However, the correlation between cortical activation and deficient inhibitory control in PSPU remains unclear.

Methods: This study examined inhibitory control using the color-word matching Stroop task and its cortical-activation responses using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in college students with PSPU (n = 56) compared with a control group (n = 54).

Results: At the behavioral level, Stroop interference, coupled with reaction time, was significantly greater in the PSPU group than in the control group. Changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) signals associated with Stroop interference were significantly increased in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, left frontopolar area, and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Moreover, the PSPU group had lower Oxy-Hb signal changes associated with Stroop interference in the left-DLPFC, relative to controls.

Discussion: These results provide first behavioral and neuroscientific evidence using event-related fNIRS method, to our knowledge, that college students with PSPU may have a deficit in inhibitory control associated with lower cortical activation in the left-DLPFC.

Keywords: Stroop interference; fNIRS; inhibitory control; prefrontal cortex; problematic smartphone use.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (grant number 18BTY055) and the Research Capacity Enhancement of Key Construction Discipline Project in Guangdong Province (grant number 2022ZDJS005).