title: Increased ventral-striatal activity during monetary decision making is a marker of problem poker gambling severity.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of different neural systems on monetary decision making in frequent poker gamblers, who vary in their degree of problem gambling. Fifteen frequent poker players, ranging from non-problem to high-problem gambling, and 15 non-gambler controls were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). During IGT deck selection, between-group fMRI analyses showed that frequent poker gamblers exhibited higher ventral-striatal but lower dorsolateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal activations as compared with controls. Moreover, using functional connectivity analyses, we observed higher ventral-striatal connectivity in poker players, and in regions involved in attentional/motor control (posterior cingulate), visual (occipital gyrus) and auditory (temporal gyrus) processing. In poker gamblers, scores of problem gambling severity were positively associated with ventral-striatal activations and with the connectivity between the ventral-striatum seed and the occipital fusiform gyrus and the middle temporal gyrus. Present results are consistent with findings from recent brain imaging studies showing that gambling disorder is associated with heightened motivational-reward processes during monetary decision making, which may hamper one's ability to moderate his level of monetary risk taking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Psychological Medicine Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Brugmann Campus, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brevers
authors.affiliation: Psychological Medicine Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Brugmann Campus, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Noël
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, China.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Melrose
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bechara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D005715:Gambling / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D066328:Ventral Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Decision making; fMRI; problem gambling severity; ventral striatum