The effect of a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation on inhibitory control and impulsivity in users with excessive internet gaming: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial

Zhuoyan Wu; Liang He; Yuetan Wang; Zhuo Ma; Qiuyan Yao; Xiaobin Ding; Bo Wu

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115732

The effect of a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation on inhibitory control and impulsivity in users with excessive internet gaming: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial

Behav Brain Res. 2025 Jul 11:115732. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115732. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zhuoyan Wu¹, Liang He², Yuetan Wang³, Zhuo Ma⁴, Qiuyan Yao⁵, Xiaobin Ding⁶, Bo Wu⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: gjs731sam@qq.com.
² School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: 2023104157@nwnu.edu.cn.
³ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: 277009055@qq.com.
⁴ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: 1787714401@qq.com.
⁵ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: 2551347526@qq.com.
⁶ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: 2297627852@qq.com.
⁷ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: bowu1900@nwnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40653051
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115732

Abstract

Excessive Internet gaming has become an increasingly serious public health problem, closely related to changes in cognitive function (especially inhibitory control deficits and increased impulsivity) and related brain regions (such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, DLPFC). As a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may improve these cognitive deficits by regulating the activity of DLPFC, but its specific effects and mechanisms in the excessive Internet gaming population still need to be further clarified. This study aims to investigate the regulatory effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) on excessive Internet game usage behavior. Fifty-seven excessive Internet game users were randomly divided into real tDCS stimulation (1.5mA,20minutes) and sham tDCS stimulation. We assessed their degree of impulsivity and inhibitory control of Internet gaming-related distractors before and after stimulation.Comparing pre- and post-stimulation with real versus sham tDCS, measures of inhibitory control (GO/NOGO task) and impulsivity (BIS-11) revealed no significant changes in the sham group. However, real tDCS significantly enhanced inhibitory control (increased total accuracy, decreased NOGO error rate, and prolonged GO reaction time) and significantly reduced impulsivity (decreased BIS-11 total and subscale scores).These results indicate that tDCS stimulating rDLPFC can enhance inhibitory control ability and reduce impulsivity, having a positive impact on excessive Internet gamers.

Keywords: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Excessive internet game use; Inhibitory control; Transcranial direct current stimulation; impulsivity.