Gambling addiction activates the same brain pathways as drug and alcohol cravings, suggests new research. The study, by international scientists including researchers from Imperial College London. 'Looking at how your brain responds to potential gains versus potential losses, we can predict how risk-averse you are going to be in your choices,' said study co-author Russell Poldrack, UCLA. An addiction to gambling however, can cause serious problems for people financially. Actions leading to alteration of the brain pleasure circuit are at the heart of all these addictions. Consequences of a bad gambling binge can linger for years, resulting in the high suicide rate for gambling addicts.
Does gambling affect the same areas of the brain as alcohol or drugs? Does gambling addiction progress in much the same way as substance use disorders, beginning with the development of tolerance and continuing to withdrawal in its absence? Is it easier or harder to recover from a behavioral addiction such as gambling? Sep 21, 2018 “Gambling Brain” Studies Make Clear Why It’s Hard to Stop Rolling the Dice. Neural regions underlying risk-taking and regret may one day point toward treatments for compulsive betting.
Addiction — of any kind — is often difficult for many people to understand. But gambling disorder, a compulsion in which no chemicals are actually ingested into the body, can be particularly confounding.
Gambling disorder refers to the uncontrollable urge to gamble, despite serious personal consequences. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 grouped gambling disorder into a category of disorders that also includes substance abuse. This change was made in light of new neuroscience research and brain imaging studies that show that people with gambling disorder have a lot in common with drug and alcohol addicts, including the changes in behavior and brain activity.
This article examines the physiology of gambling disorder, including why it’s hard for some people to resist the urge to gamble and why some people continue to gamble even after the activity ceases to be enjoyable.
Contents
- 8 References
The Brain’s Reward Network
The genesis of gambling disorder begins in the reward network of the brain, which consists of the ventral striatum (also known as the “reward hub”) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The role of the reward hub is to recognize the cues that suggest when a reward may be coming. This part of the brain is activated when a reward is anticipated, such as when your dog is coming to the door to greet you or when you smell a tasty dinner cooking in the oven.
Images of brain activity in people with gambling disorder and substance addictions show that they have less activity in the reward hub when anticipating rewards. This suggests that people with addictions may process rewards differently than others. It may also explain why they seek out unnatural rewards, such as gambling, alcohol or drugs, to experience pleasure.
The role of the mPFC is to stop, or inhibit, a response. This braking action is important when the “go” signal encourages one to charge ahead toward something the brain associates with pleasure.
Research shows that the impulse control action or the “brake” does not work well in people with gambling disorder. Compared to those without addiction, there is less activity in this area of the brain. These individuals pay less attention to the “stop” signal and are less able to stop the pursuit of pleasure. When it comes to gambling, this means those individuals will have difficulty stopping.
The Habit Grows — Even While Gambling Ceases to be Fun
People with gambling disorder continue to gamble even when it no longer brings them pleasure. This behavior stems from parts of the brain that establish habits.
Habit formation occurs in the dorsal striatum, also known as the “habit hub.” Over -indulgence in pleasurable behaviors causes brain activity to shift from the reward hub to the habit hub. Typically, these two parts of the brain work in tandem, so that habits can be developed out of pleasurable experiences.
However, for individuals with gambling disorder, it seems that these two areas of the brain stop working in harmony. When the pursuit of pleasurable experiences becomes too strong, a habit begins.
For those with gambling disorder, these brain changes create several impacts. The first is that people with gambling disorder become overly aware of environmental gambling cues. For example, when a person gambles, they begin to associate related cues, such as the sounds of a slot machine, the sight of favorite numbers, or the feel of the felt on a poker table, with feelings of pleasure that gambling brings. The more one gambles, the more the reward hub lights up.
However, the pleasure gradually decreases as the brain learns what it needs to do to derive a reward. The better these behaviors are learned, the less they light up the reward hub. Over time, the behavior becomes a habit, meaning less thought goes into the behavior and less accompanying pleasure.
In addition to the decrease in pleasure derived from gambling, research shows that people with gambling disorder are also more likely to shift their attention to gambling cues than people who have more neutral feelings about gambling. This is why those with gambling disorder will be quick to notice a gambling-related ad.
Why Gambling Cues Produce Urges
As the habit hub overrides the reward hub, gambling cues are processed ever more quickly, ultimately producing powerful urges to gamble. For example, the mere sight of money or hearing about the latest high-paying lottery game can be gambling triggers.
From the time of a first pleasurable gambling experience to the time a gambler becomes “addicted,” the feeling of “liking” decreases while a feeling of “wanting” increases. This explains why disordered gamblers feel a strong desire to gamble even while it’s no longer fun or entertaining. At this point, the activity of gambling functions to ease the discomfort of urges.
Why the Brain Struggles with Gambling Urges
The urge to gamble haunts many as they attempt to stop or modify their gambling habit. Because of the complicated processes at work in the brain, it can be difficult to ignore these urges.
In addition to the takeover by the habit hub and the inability of the reward hub and habit hub to work together appropriately, a third part of the brain plays a role in urges. The insula is involved in subjective emotional experience that allows one to process physical sensations, such as pain, temperature, hunger and thirst, so they may be used to influence decision making. The insula is also responsible for driving someone to do something about urges.
Studies have shown that compared to people without an addiction, individuals with gambling disorder can cycle into an increased response to gambling cues while unsuccessfully trying to regulate the negative emotions stirred up by these cues, which then leads to prolonged gambling activity.
The Challenges in Rediscovering Pleasure
Strong gambling urges can hamper those in the early stages of recovery from disordered gambling. These urges are so strong that many people find that activities that used to bring them pleasure or excitement, such as socializing with friends, participating in hobbies or eating food, no longer do so.
This condition of not being able to feel pleasure is called anhedonia. Disordered gambling can lower natural mood states such that rewards that used to provide pleasure don’t anymore. This is consistent with brain imaging studies of people in early recovery from substance abuse. When presented with pictures of mouth-watering food or positive social situations such as family gatherings, brain scans of individuals with anhedonia showed less activity in the reward hub of the brain than those with lower levels of anhedonia.
The Risk of Addiction Switching
Reports of people switching from one type of addiction to another (also known as substitution or cross-addiction) are not uncommon. For example, when a person stops drinking, he may find himself smoking more cigarettes, binging on certain foods or gambling excessively. This unfortunate occurrence can occur because of reduced activity in the reward hub and their ability to “brake,” making a person vulnerable to other unhealthy rewards to satisfy urges. The result could be a new pattern of repeated rewarding behavior that steals one’s attention, opening the door to a new addiction.
The Good News: Abstinence Can Reduce Gambling Urges
The good news is that brains are continually changing. Therefore, the processes that create addiction can be reversed to a varying degree over time. A study published in Neuropsychopharmacology showed that the brains of individuals with substance-based addictions changed in response to non-addiction cues. This means that individuals recovering from an addiction can start to enjoy natural rewards again. However, because these changes can take time to occur, it emphasizes the importance of continuing to practice previously enjoyable hobbies, to try out new activities in new settings, and to be around those who engage in positive behaviors.
Given the time it takes to build new brain processes — and a lasting recovery — individuals should consider the importance of cultivating healthy responses to non-gambling rewards. This can help protect them from the dangers of cross addiction and relapse, and create a rich, meaningful and rewarding life over the long term.
References
- Gambling Addiction and the Brain, Mary Bates, Sept 2015, Brain Facts.
- Disruption of Reward Processing in Addiction: An Image-Based Meta-analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies, Luijten et. al., (2017) JAMA Psychiatry, 74(4), 387-398.
- Similar hyporesponsiveness of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in problem gamblers and heavy smokers during an inhibitory control task. De Ruiter et. al., (2012). Drug and alcohol dependence, 121(1), 81-89.
- Brevers et. al., (2011). Psychology of addictive behaviors, 25(4), 675; Brevers et. al., (2011). Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 42(3), 265-269.
- Dissociable roles of ventral and dorsal striatum in instrumental conditioning, O’Doherty et. al., (2004). Science, 304(5669), 452-454.
- Evidence of Anhedonia and Differential Reward Processing in Prefrontal Cortex Among Post-Withdrawal Patients with Prescription Opiate Dependence, Huhn et. al., (2016), Brain Research Bulletin, 123, 102-109.
- Neurofunctional Reward Processing Changes in Cocaine Dependence During Recovery, Balodis et al., (2016). Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(8), 2112-2121.
Bill Stein for Northstar Problem Gambling Alliance
Last Updated on July 11, 2019
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I’m a proponent of gambling for fun, but I’m not a fan of every single thing that people in the gambling industry do. The psychology of gambling is too often taken advantage of to the players’ detriment.
One example of this is the industry’s use of the term “gaming” to refer to “gambling.” The idea that they can just co-opt a term that’s used for different activities to try to make their business seem more legitimate is disingenuous at best and dangerous at worst.
But people like to gamble for fun, and I’m firmly in that camp. I’m not alone. I’ve seen estimates that suggest an overwhelming majority of Americans gamble. (The number of adults who never gamble is 20% or lower).
Some people, though, eventually start gambling compulsively. This makes gambling similar to other pleasurable activities like drinking or smoking.
And the psychology behind casino games and other gambling activities is based on selling a game that’s designed for the gambler to lose in the long run.
A cold, hard look at the odds behind most casino games would cause a sane person to fold their money in half and put it back in their wallet.
How the Brain’s Rewards System Works With Gambling
It would be hard to discuss the psychology of gambling without getting into some of the ideas about how the brain’s reward system works. If you didn’t get some kind of psychological kick out of gambling, you wouldn’t do it. Neither would anyone else.
Understanding this is a step in the direction of being a hard-nosed, realistic gambler.
The first aspect of gambling that seems obvious is that you don’t know what the outcome will be. Your brain is hardwired to enjoy activities when you don’t know what’s going to happen, especially if one of the possible outcomes involves a reward of some kind.
When you exercise, eat, drink alcohol, or make love, your brain releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This neurotransmitter is also released when you have money in action at the roulette table, or anywhere else in the casino.
In fact, psychologists have performed multiple studies and experiments measuring the brain’s release of dopamine when gambling. Not only does the brain release dopamine in the same way it would as if you were using drugs, but the brain physically changes when you’re gambling.
You can think of the dopamine that gets released in your brain as traveling through a road. That road becomes more sensitive with repeated use. Not only does gambling increase your craving for more gambling, it also increases your craving for other things that release dopamine (including alcohol, drugs, or any other activity that causes that dopamine release).
They’ve even done studies that demonstrate that gamblers who lose get the same hit of dopamine that winners get. Problem gamblers who chase their losses are living examples of this phenomenon in action.
Other Stimuli, Other Responses
The brain’s reaction to uncertainty when it comes to rewards and losses would seem to be enough to motivate gamblers, but casinos are in the business of maximizing profits. (All businesses are in the business of maximizing profits.)
The casinos use other stimuli to motivate their customers to gamble.
These stimuli include the sights and sounds of the casino. You can even see similar sights and sounds aimed at children. Notice what the game room at Chuck E. Cheese sounds like, then visit your local casino.
It’s almost as if the children are being trained to become slot machine addicts when they grow up.
Live casinos, of course, have these sights and sounds in abundance, but even online casinos use the same stimuli. It would be dull to play at an online casino that didn’t include at least some of the flashing lights and music that you hear in a brick and mortar casino.
Scientists have done studies related to these stimuli, too, and they’ve come to the conclusion that the sights and sounds increase that dopamine release. In other words, the uncertainty of the rewards system combined with the music and lights have a synergistic effect.
A Skinner Box With a Lever
B.F. Skinner is one of the most famous behavioral scientists in history. Not all of his work relates to gambling, but some of it does. In particular, the Skinner Box applies directly to slot machine addiction.
Skinner did experiments with rats using boxes that dispensed cheese as a reward when the rats pulled a lever.
Obviously, the rats who got cheese every time they pulled the lever were more motivated to pull the lever than the rats who didn’t get cheese.
But there was a third box. This one dispensed cheese as a reward randomly. Sometimes, the rat got cheese, and other times, it didn’t.
You’d think that the rats who were certain of getting cheese would be the most motivated to pull that lever. But you would be wrong.
The rats who didn’t know whether or not they’d get cheese were the ones most motivated to pull the lever on the box.
Now, let’s talk about slot machines. You’re the rat in the situation, the prize money is the cheese, and you have an uncertain result.
It’d be easy to say that people aren’t rats. But if you look at the research, this experiment relates to how the brain reacts to uncertainty.
And slot machines are the biggest moneymakers for the casino by far, even though they usually offer the worst odds in the casino. How else do you explain their appeal?
There’s a great book specifically about slot machines called Addiction by Design. It’s worth reading if you’re interested in the psychology of gambling.
The Gambler’s Fallacy
You’ll sometimes see this referred to by another name, like the “Monte Carlo” fallacy. Either way, it means the same thing.
It’s the tendency for a gambler to believe that if something happens more or less often than it should, the future results will even that out by having that something happen less or more often than it should.
In the case of random events that are independent of one another, this is a complete fallacy.
You have 18 black outcomes, 18 red outcomes, and two green outcomes at the roulette table. You’ve been betting on black, and black has hit eight times in a row.
Someone who believes in the gambler’s fallacy would think that a red or green result is now more probable on the next spin of the wheel. After all, the probability of black hitting nine times in a row is low indeed.
The problem is that you’re not betting on black coming up nine times in a row. You’re betting on the next spin, which is an independent event. The roulette wheel has no memory of what happened on the previous eight spins.
What Does Gambling Do To Your Brain Affect
It still has 18 red numbers out of 38 total numbers, so the probability of a red result on that ninth spin is still 18/38, or 47.37%.
This is another example of a psychological shortcoming that causes gamblers to chase their losses. Even when you understand what the gambler’s fallacy is and the real odds, it’s tempting to bet the other way.
The gambler’s fallacy has been prominent in gamblers throughout history, but the most notable example happened at the Monte Carlo Casino in 1913. The roulette table saw an epic streak of black results, the ball landed on black 26 times in a row.
The odds of that happening are similar to the odds of winning the lottery, about 1 in 67 million.
The roulette players bet millions on red and lost. Their assumption that you’d see a streak of red results in higher proportion on the next batch of spins was entirely incorrect.
Applied Psychology in Gambling: The Game of Poker
Entire books about psychology and its application in poker have been written by psychologists. It’s impossible in the space here to provide anything like comprehensive coverage of the subject.
But I can provide an introduction to how psychology affects poker.
First, think about the concept of tells in poker. If you’ve seen many movies about poker, you probably already know what tells are. You might even have an inflated sense of their importance.
A poker tell is just a physical clue that a poker player gives when he’s about to do something. For example, a player might have shaky hands when he likes his cards. (This is a common tell, by the way. Excitement about a hand results in the release of nervous tension in the form of trembling hands.)
You can spend all day looking for tells and still lose at poker. You can’t replace an understanding of hand strength, pot odds, and outs with close observation of the other players at the table.
Another example of psychology at the poker table is the tendency for players to tilt. This is the phenomenon of getting angry because you feel like you’re not getting the results you should be and changing your behavior as a result.
I used to play with a guy who wore scrubs to every poker game. I didn’t know him. I just used to run into him at the cardroom at Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma.
His nickname was “Doctor Tilt.” He’d get mad after a bad beat and start betting and raising with all kinds of weak cards. All you had to do was be willing to fold for a little while until you caught some decent cards.
He’d angrily bet into you with some dumb hole cards, and you’d win money from him two out of three times. He racked up some severe losses.
This tendency to tilt, though, is also subject to psychology. Because the game of poker is random, someone who tilts sometimes gets paid off when he bets and raises with a lousy hand.
This reinforces his tendency to tilt.
Avoiding tilt is a critical psychological skill in the game of poker.
Conclusion
The psychology of gambling is a huge subject, too huge to cover in any kind of depth in a single blog post. The best I could hope to do is provide an introduction to some of the effects of psychology in gambling.
What Does Gambling Do To Your Brain Hurt
Were there better examples of the psychology of gambling that I could have used in this post? If so, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!