Who knows digital addicts can (somehow) be digitally smarter: an ERP study of numerical Stroop task

Extending from the development of digital technology, being hyperconnected of Internet has become a prevalent issue and found to be responsible for certain changes in cognitive control. To further investigate these changes, our study used ERPs to provide a direct, temporally precise view of brain activity on numerical Stroop task, in which numerical and physical values were varied under task-relevant and -irrelevant conditions. Screened by Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R), 21 Internet addicts (IA) and 19 normal (control) students were recruited. For behavioral results, IA group showed faster reaction times but two groups showed no difference in accuracy. For ERP results, only IA group showed that Congruent elicited a smaller N200 than Neutral (a facilitation effect). On the late positive component (LPC), IA group showed both facilitation effect (more positive LPC of Congruent than Neutral) and interference effect (more positive LPC of Neutral than Incongruent), yet control group displayed only interference effect. The facilitation effect of LPC on CP3 and P3 was also positively correlated with the CIAS-R score. Overall, the findings imply that IA group avails of the task-irrelevant information to facilitate both early-stage perception and response organization. Though previous studies consider addition as a risk factor for cognitive impairment, our study contrasts this understanding by revealing the ability of information integration in digital addict individuals, which might be due to their volitional rich experience and long exposure to digital content.