Subscribe to RSS
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1216132
Neurobiologische Grundlagen der Suchterkrankung
Pathological gambling shares similarities with drug dependence including features of tolerance withdrawal and diminished control. In analogy to drug dependence it has been speculated that the underlying pathology includes a sensitivity reduction of the reward system to natural reinforcers. We tested this hypothesis by studying pathological gamblers and healthy controls during a simple gambling task and fMRI. The simple main effect of winning versus losing showed highly significant activation in the ventral striatum for patients and controls. Based on these results we further investigated the differences between controls and gamblers. This comparison revealed lower ventral striatal activation in pathological gamblers. More importantly, within the group of pathological gamblers, ventral striatal activation was negatively correlated with the severity of gambling linking hypoactivation of the reward system to the severity of pathological gambling.