People with gambling disorder have distinct neural responses to gambling cues during decision-making tasks

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Author(s): Genauck, Alexander ; Matthis, Caroline ; Andrejevic, Milan ; Ballon, Lukas ; Chiarello, Francesca ; Duecker, Katharina ; Heinz, Andreas ; Kathmann, Norbert ; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina

Journal: Addiction Biology

Year Published: 2021

Date Added: October 16, 2020

Addictions can change the way people respond to cues that are related to their addiction. For example, someone with gambling disorder (GD) may experience gambling craving when they see a slot machine. The slot machine is a cue to their addiction and could elicit a specific neural response. This study tested whether people with GD have different neural responses during a gambling task compared to people without GD. Participants completed a gambling decision-making task while viewing either gambling-related, positive, negative, or neutral images. Participants with GD were more likely to gamble when the images were gambling-related, positive, and negative cues. During the task, the neural responses of people with GD were different than those of people without GD. Thus, GD is linked to distinct neural responses during gambling decision-making.

Citation: Genauck, A., Matthis, C., Andrejevic, M., Ballon, L., Chiarello, F., Duecker, K., … Romanczuk-Seiferth, N. (2021). Neural correlates of cue-induced changes in decision-making distinguish subjects with gambling disorder from healthy controls. Addiction Biology, 26(3), e12951. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12951

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12951

Keywords: decision making ; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) ; gambling disorder ; Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer

Topics: Gambling and the Brain

Conceptual Framework Factors: Psychological - Judgement and Decision Making ; Biological Factors ; Biological - Neurobiology

Study Design: Experimental: NRCT (non-randomized controlled trial)

Geographic Coverage: Germany

Study Population: Active gamblers who meet the DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling (n = 30), and healthy controls (n=30; matched for age, personal income, and alcohol use)

Sampling Procedure: Recruited active gamblers via eBay classified ads and notices in Berlin casinos and gambling halls. Verified they had pathological gambling using the German short questionnaire for gambling behaviour (KFG) (N=30 participants with GD). They do not state how they recruited the healthy control subjects (N=30 healthy controls)

Study Funding:

This study was funded by a research grant by the Senatsverwaltung für Gesundheit, Pflege und Gleichstellung, Berlin. Alexander Genauck was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.