title: Effects of optimism on gambling in the rat slot machine task.
abstract: Although gambling disorder is a serious social problem in modern societies, information about the behavioral traits that could determine vulnerability to this psychopathology is still scarce. In this study, we used a recently developed ambiguous-cue interpretation ​(ACI)​ paradigm to investigate whether 'optimism' and 'pessimism' as behavioral traits may determine the gambling-like behavior of rodents. In a series of ACI tests (cognitive bias screening), we identified rats that displayed 'pessimistic' and 'optimistic' traits. Subsequently, using the rat slot machine task (rSMT), we investigated if the 'optimistic'/'pessimistic' traits could determine the crucial feature of gambling-like behavior that has been investigated in rats and humans: the ​interpretation of 'near-miss' outcomes as a positive (i.e., win) situation. We found that 'optimists' did not interpret 'near-miss', 'near loss', or 'clear win' as win trials more often than ​their 'pessimistic' ​conspecifics; however, the 'optimists' were statistically more likely to reach for a reward in the hopeless 'clear loss' situation. This agrees with human studies and provides a platform for modeling interactions between behavioral traits and gambling in animals.
authors.affiliation: Affective Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Drug Development, Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences, 12 Smetna Street, 31-343 Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rafa
authors.affiliation: Affective Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Drug Development, Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences, 12 Smetna Street, 31-343 Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kregiel
authors.affiliation: Affective Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Drug Development, Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences, 12 Smetna Street, 31-343 Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Popik
authors.affiliation: Affective Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Drug Development, Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences, 12 Smetna Street, 31-343 Krakow, Poland. Electronic address: rygula@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rafal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rygula
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D003657:Decision Making; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D000067656:Optimism / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011581:Psychological Tests; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
keywords: Ambiguous-cue interpretation; Cognitive judgment bias; Gambling; Optimism; Pessimism; Rat