title: Individual differences in gambling proneness among rats and common marmosets: an automated choice task.
abstract: Interest is rising for animal modeling of pathological gambling. Using the operant probabilistic-delivery task (PDT), gambling proneness can be evaluated in laboratory animals. Drawing a comparison with rats, this study evaluated the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) using a PDT. By nose- or hand-poking, subjects learnt to prefer a large (LLL, 5-6 pellets) over a small (SS, 1-2 pellets) reward and, subsequently, the probability of occurrence of large-reward delivery was decreased progressively to very low levels (from 100% to 17% and 14%). As probability decreased, subjects showed a great versus little shift in preference from LLL to SS reinforcer. Hence, two distinct subpopulations ("non-gambler" versus "gambler") were differentiated within each species. A proof of the model validity comes from marmosets' reaction to reward-delivery omission. Namely, depending on individual temperament ("gambler" versus "non-gambler"), they showed either persistence (i.e., inadequate pokes towards LLL) or restlessness (i.e., inadequate pokes towards SS), respectively. In conclusion, the marmoset could be a suitable model for preclinical gambling studies. Implementation of the PDT to species other than rats may be relevant for determining its external validity/generalizability and improving its face/construct validity.
authors: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy ; Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors: Francesca
authors: 0000-0002-3626-8928
authors: F
authors: Zoratto
authors: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors: Emma
authors: 0000-0002-3784-5846
authors: E
authors: Sinclair
authors: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy ; Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, National Research Council (ISTC-CNR), Rome, Italy.
authors: Arianna
authors: A
authors: Manciocco
authors: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors: Augusto
authors: A
authors: Vitale
authors: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Laviola
authors: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors: Walter
authors: 0000-0002-0067-4430
authors: W
authors: Adriani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002144:Callithrix; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005715:Gambling / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012201:Reward; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D035501:Uncertainty