Neurobiology of Gambling Behaviour

Written by: Samaira Talati-Parikh

Reference Paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3803105/

Image representive of gambling

Gambling is the act of putting something of value at risk in hope of gaining something of greater

value. Many people can gamble without encountering problems, however, 5% develop gambling

related problems. Some may even meet the criteria for pathological gambling, also known as

gambling disorder.

There is a neurochemistry behind gambling, as each neurotransmitter has a different role which

may affect a person’s behaviour. Norepinephrine is suggested to create excitement, while

serotonin affects impulse control. Dopamine allows for reward processing and reinforcement,

while opioid causes urges, and opioid antagonists have been used to help individuals who are

prone to gambling. Cortisol is connected to stress of gamblers, as there are elevated cortisol

levels during gambling in the subjects, even if they didn’t have an addiction to gambling.

Glutamate contributes to compulsiveness and cognitive inflexibility.

There are many cognitive processes which affect gambling and the severity of gambling

problems. Some with pathological gambling may score normally on an intelligence test,

however, those same individuals would score highly on measures of impulsiveness and low on

measures of self control. When a person has differences in their brain function in terms of

cognitive control, decision-making, reward/loss and ‘near miss’ processing, delay and

probabilistic discounting, reversal learning, alternation learning, and risk taking, it is often linked

to a gambling problem. Furthermore, poorer white matter integrity has been identified in

pathological gambling, this being linked to behavioral tendencies such as fun-seeking. This also

suggests that brain circuits may contribute to reward-related decision-making which affect

gambling behaviours.

There are a range of stages suggested, going from non-gambling to low-risk gambling to at-risk

gambling to problem gambling, and finally to pathological gambling. This also suggests the

different factors that could be contributing to problem gambling severity, such as genetic factors,

environmental factors, and individual differences. The stages have been identified using

data-driven methodologies such as latent class analysis.

The data also indicates that people transition through these stages, and this can be due to a range

of different factors. Firstly, women may reach gambling problems faster due to a process known

as ‘telescoping’. A person’s life experiences, such as being married, having social networks,

having a higher level of education, having more income, and participating in religious services

that use protective cognitive and behavioral strategies can lead to resilience towards facing

gambling problems. However, trauma, stress, early exposure to gambling, delinquent behaviours,

impulsive tendencies, substance-use behaviors, and any mental conditions, are risk factors

towards gambling problems.

Commonly occurring allelic variants may interact with environmental factors to affect gambling transitions and possibly even lead to gambling problems. This is true for the serotonin transporter, which help represent patterns of amygdala responsiveness and vulnerability from

depression in terms of childhood maltreatment. This may influence gambling transitions, and

may need to be investigated further. It is also true that more than 50% of pathological gambling

is related to genetic factors.

Impulsivity plays a large role in both gambling and pathological gambling. It is influenced by

factors such as stress and reward, along with behavioural characteristics at early ages. These

factors, if examined further, could lead to newer prevention methods focused on children with a

higher impulsiveness.

Finally, some future directions are that there is more information needed to fully understand and

analyse gambling behaviours. There are also advanced analytical techniques which use

connectivity and brain circuitry to analyse subjects, which may improve treatments and lead to

better therapies. Another recent effort is animal models of gambling behaviours, such as rodent

models. This will help both understand the pathophysiology of gambling and further identify

which specific molecular entities within cells and neuronal circuits influence gambling

behaviours.