title: Neurological soft signs in individuals with pathological gambling.
abstract: Increased neurological soft signs (NSSs) have been found in a number of neuropsychiatric syndromes, including chemical addiction. The present study examined NSSs related to perceptual-motor and visuospatial processing in a behavioral addiction viz., pathological gambling (PG). As compared to mentally healthy individuals, pathological gamblers displayed significantly poorer ability to copy two- and three-dimensional figures, to recognize objects against a background noise, and to orient in space on a road-map test. Results indicated that PG is associated with subtle cerebral cortical abnormalities. Further prospective clinical research is needed to address the NSSs' origin and chronology (e.g., predate or follow the development of PG) as well as their response to therapeutic interventions and/or their ability to predict such a response.
authors.affiliation: Providence VA Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. ielman@cha.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elman
authors.forename: Tamara V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Gurvits
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tschibelu
authors.forename: Justin D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Spring
authors.forename: Natasha B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Lasko
authors.forename: Roger K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Pitman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012307:Risk Factors