Selective decision-making deficits in at-risk gamblers
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Despite reasonable knowledge of pathological gambling (PG), little is known of its cognitive antecedents. We evaluated decision-making and impulsivity characteristics in people at risk of developing PG using neuropsychological tests. Non-treatment seeking volunteers (18-29 years) who gamble = 5 times/year were recruited from the general community, and split into two groups: those "at risk" of developing PG (n=74) and those social, non-problem gamblers (n=112). Participants undertook the Cambridge Gamble and Stop-signal tasks and were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Pathological Gambling. On the Cambridge Gamble task, the at-risk subjects gambled more points overall, were more likely to go bankrupt, and made more irrational decisions under situations of relative risk ambiguity. On the Stop-signal task, at-risk gamblers did not differ from the social, non-problem gamblers in terms of motor impulse control (stop-signal reaction times). Findings suggest that selective cognitive dysfunction may already be present in terms of decision-making in at-risk gamblers, even before psychopathology arises. These findings implicate selective decision-making deficits and dysfunction of orbitofronto-limbic circuitry in the chain of pathogenesis between social, non-problematic and pathological gambling.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Psychiatry Research |
Volume | 189 |
Issue number | 1 |
Pages (from-to) | 115-20 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISSN | 0165-1781 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Aug 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
ID: 45271843