Gambling-related brain responses in social and problem gamblers
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Luke Clark (Principal Investigator) | |
| Trevor Robbins (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Chase HW
(2010)
Gambling severity predicts midbrain response to near-miss outcomes.
in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Clark L
(2009)
Gambling near-misses enhance motivation to gamble and recruit win-related brain circuitry.
in Neuron
Clark L
(2010)
Decision-making during gambling: an integration of cognitive and psychobiological approaches.
in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
Grant, Jon E.; Potenza, Marc N.
(2011)
The Oxford Handbook of Impulse Control Disorders
Van Holst RJ
(2014)
Striatal connectivity changes following gambling wins and near-misses: Associations with gambling severity.
in NeuroImage. Clinical
| Description | The project sought to study gambling behaviour in the lab, and in a clinical MRI facility, using a computerised simulation of a slot machine that elicited near-miss outcomes and the influence of personal control. In the first year of the project, we validated this task in 40 volunteers who were not regular gamblers. The manipulation of personal control was effective: subjects rated their chances of winning as higher when they - compared to the computer - selected the play icon. We observed effects of the near-misses: compared to full-misses, the near-misses were experienced as unpleasant but increased ratings of 'continue to play' the game. This 'invigorating' effect of the near-misses was only observed on participant-chosen trials, showing that the near-miss effect depended upon personal control. These behavioural data seem to capture the essence of the near-miss: why should something aversive make one want to repeat the behaviour? Existing neurobiological research using functional MRI demonstrates a robust network of areas activated by monetary wins, including the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. We sought to examine how these brain areas responded to the two gambling distortions. In the first fMRI study, we scanned 16 volunteers who were not regular gamblers. The winning outcomes activated the established brain reward circuitry. The comparison of near-misses and full-misses revealed significant brain activity to near-misses within this network (ventral striatum and insula), even though the objective outcome on near miss trials was a loss. An interaction between the near-miss effect and personal control was expressed in the medial prefrontal cortex, implicating this area in the appraisal of skill during gambling. In addition, brain responses to near-misses were correlated with the self-report ratings and with a questionnaire measure of gambling propensity. In the second fMRI study, we scanned a larger group of regular gamblers (n=20) comprising a mixture of social and problem gamblers (rated on the South Oaks Gambling Screen). We confirmed very similar patterns of brain activity to wins and near-misses in the regular gamblers, and critically, gambling severity predicted a greater response to near-misses in the dopaminergic midbrain. This implies that problem gamblers display exaggerated near-miss processing and may have elevated dopamine release to these cognitive distortions. |
| Exploitation Route | Our data showing how near-misses effectively motivate gambling behaviour are relevant to gambling legislation concerning the manipulation of near miss outcomes within electronic gambling formats. We have been informed that Australian provinces are considering tightening their slot machine regulations to constrain the opportunities for, and frequencies of, near miss events, and our data have informed this debate. The neuroimaging differences observed as a function of gambling severity have clinical implications for the detection of disordered gambling, and aetiological theories of the disorder based upon pathological gambling as a 'behavioural addiction'. To what extent are these changes, and the gambling distortions more broadly, also present in substance addictions? To what extent are these changes present in individuals at high risk for gambling problems? We have obtained follow-up funding from the Medical Research Council to address these questions, in a collaboration with the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London, where we will also scan a group of treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. The tentative implication of dopamine involvement in problem gambling carries clinical ramifications, that dopamine-based medications may have therapeutic benefit in treating the cognitive distortions. We have obtained follow-up funding from the Royal Society to test this question using a direct manipulation of dopamine transmission in healthy recreational gamblers. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Healthcare,Other |
| Description | This work drew attention to a particular feature of slot machine gambling, the near-miss, showing a neural signature to these events in the brain, and a link to problem gambling. Some jurisdictions have cited this work in regulating these features (e.g. in Tasmania, Australia). Anecdotally, a number of clinicians who work with problem gambling have told us that they refer to our studies in therapy, to explain the addictive nature of gambling events. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
| Sector | Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Neural basis of gambling cognitions : relevance for vulnerability and treatment of gambling addiction |
| Amount | £627,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | G1100554 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2012 |
| End | 06/2015 |
| Description | Predicting relapse in treatment-seeking pathological gamblers using impulsivity and compulsivity assays |
| Amount | £214,402 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | G0802725 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Gambling task |
| Organisation | Catholic University of Louvain |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Ongoing collaboration with Joel Billieux (formerly U Geneva, now U Louvain, Belgian) using the gambling task developed in the ESRC grant. This collaboration has yielded a journal paper (Billieux et al 2012 British Journal of Psychology), and I am on the advisory panel to a PhD student supervised by Dr Billieux, Mr Gaetan Devos (2012-2015). |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Gambling task |
| Organisation | University of Vienna |
| Country | Austria |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | LC is a consultant on a grant application to the Austrian Science Fund (Feb 2013), which would involve further use of the gambling task developed in the ESRC grant. If funded, the grant will support some travel between Cambridge and Vienna. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | A safe bet? : the psychology of gambling and gambling addiction |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Around 50 pupils attended a talk + discussion as a part of a series of after-school science talks . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Gambling on the brain |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public lecture as part of Cambridge Science Week . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Introducing the film 'croupier' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | At the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse (Psy-fi Film Festival) Not known |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Losers with winners' brains |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview on 'Quirks and Quarks' science and technology news Not known |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Near misses encourage gambling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Live radio interview about research reported in Clark et al 2009 Neuron. Not known |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Why gamblers keep betting even in defeat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | News feature on Clark et al (2009 Neuron) findings, by Martyn Brown. Daily Express |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| URL | http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/84458/Why-gamblers-keep-betting-even-in-defeat |