title: Gambling severity predicts midbrain response to near-miss outcomes.
abstract: Gambling is a common recreational activity that becomes dysfunctional in a subset of individuals, with DSM "pathological gambling" regarded as the most severe form. During gambling, players experience a range of cognitive distortions that promote an overestimation of the chances of winning. Near-miss outcomes are thought to fuel these distortions. We observed previously that near misses recruited overlapping circuitry to monetary wins in a study in healthy volunteers (Clark et al., 2009). The present study sought to extend these observations in regular gamblers and relate brain responses to an index of gambling severity. Twenty regular gamblers, who varied in their involvement from recreational playing to probable pathological gambling, were scanned while performing a simplified slot machine task that delivered occasional monetary wins, as well as near-miss and full-miss nonwin outcomes. In the overall group, near-miss outcomes were associated with a significant response in the ventral striatum, which was also recruited by monetary wins. Gambling severity, measured with the South Oaks Gambling Screen, predicted a greater response in the dopaminergic midbrain to near-miss outcomes. This effect survived controlling for clinical comorbidities that were present in the regular gamblers. Gambling severity did not predict win-related responses in the midbrain or elsewhere. These results demonstrate that near-miss events during gambling recruit reward-related brain circuitry in regular players. An association with gambling severity in the midbrain suggests that near-miss outcomes may enhance dopamine transmission in disordered gambling, which extends neurobiological similarities between pathological gambling and drug addiction.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Henry W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012201:Reward; D012647:Self-Assessment
references.citation: Magn Reson Med. 1995 May;33(5):636-47
references.pmid: 7596267
references.citation: Addiction. 2006 Sep;101 Suppl 1:142-51
references.pmid: 16930171
references.citation: Neuron. 2008 Oct 23;60(2):378-89
references.pmid: 18957228
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Sep;144(9):1184-8
references.pmid: 3631315
references.citation: J Clin Psychol. 1995 Nov;51(6):768-74
references.pmid: 8778124
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 1996;4(1):58-73
references.pmid: 20408186
references.citation: Br J Psychol. 1984 Aug;75 ( Pt 3):401-10
references.pmid: 6487928
references.citation: J Gambl Stud. 2003 Winter;19(4):433-8
references.pmid: 14634302
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2007 Apr 1;35(2):787-94
references.pmid: 17291784
references.citation: Psychol Med. 2008 Sep;38(9):1351-60
references.pmid: 18257941
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 1999 Jan;20(1):60-80
references.pmid: 9885786
references.citation: Psychol Addict Behav. 2001 Jun;15(2):155-8
references.pmid: 11419232
references.citation: Science. 2008 Feb 29;319(5867):1264-7
references.pmid: 18309087
references.citation: Alcohol Alcohol. 2002 Mar-Apr;37(2):187-92
references.pmid: 11912076
references.citation: Neuron. 2009 Feb 12;61(3):481-90
references.pmid: 19217383
references.citation: Addiction. 2006 Apr;101(4):534-47
references.pmid: 16548933
references.citation: Psychol Med. 2005 Feb;35(2):245-56
references.pmid: 15841682
references.citation: Am J Public Health. 1998 Jul;88(7):1093-6
references.pmid: 9663161
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2010 Jan 27;365(1538):319-30
references.pmid: 20026469
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 1996 Feb;34(2):163-73
references.pmid: 8741724
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 2009 Jun;32(6):321-8
references.pmid: 19446348
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 May 14;28(20):5331-43
references.pmid: 18480289
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2003 Aug;13(4):500-5
references.pmid: 12965300
references.citation: Psychol Med. 1997 Mar;27(2):473-5
references.pmid: 9089839
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 1988 Dec;56(6):893-7
references.pmid: 3204199
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Jul;21(7):1332-45
references.pmid: 18752410
references.citation: Science. 2005 Mar 11;307(5715):1642-5
references.pmid: 15761155
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2007 Jan;164(1):43-51
references.pmid: 17202543
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2004 Feb 25;24(8):1793-802
references.pmid: 14985419
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2003 Jul;19(3):1233-9
references.pmid: 12880848
references.citation: Nature. 2004 Oct 14;431(7010):760-7
references.pmid: 15483596
references.citation: Arch Neurol. 2005 Sep;62(9):1377-81
references.pmid: 16009751
references.citation: Addiction. 2006 Apr;101(4):570-80
references.pmid: 16548936
references.citation: Addiction. 2009 Jun;104(6):1006-15
references.pmid: 19466924
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2004 Nov;29(10):1272-80
references.pmid: 15288706
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004 Jan;29(1):195-207
references.pmid: 14571257
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2008 Oct 12;363(1507):3181-9
references.pmid: 18640909
references.citation: Brain. 2009 May;132(Pt 5):1376-85
references.pmid: 19346328
references.citation: Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2005 Jan 5;132B(1):29-37
references.pmid: 15457501
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2005 Feb;8(2):147-8
references.pmid: 15643429
references.citation: BMC Psychiatry. 2008 May 08;8:34
references.pmid: 18466609
references.citation: Neuron. 2001 Feb;29(2):537-45
references.pmid: 11239442
references.citation: J Gambl Stud. 2008 Sep;24(3):257-74
references.pmid: 18256906
references.citation: Neuron. 2002 Oct 10;36(2):241-63
references.pmid: 12383780
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2007 Dec;28(12):1276-86
references.pmid: 17274020
references.citation: Neuron. 2006 Aug 3;51(3):369-79
references.pmid: 16880131
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Dec 24;28(52):14311-9
references.pmid: 19109512