Problem gambling is a huge social problem, and a huge personal problem for the sufferers. It happens in plain view of many observers - the person never quitting a losing streak, or insisting that the streak must end according to erroneous comprehension of statistics. What’s happening in the brains of problem gamblers differently than in the brains of non-problem gamblers?
Caltech researcher John O’Doherty recruited 20 members of each group based on questionnaires. To peek inside their minds, his group had the gamblers perform mental tasks while they were in a magnetic resonance imager. The areas of the brain that are more active show up during the task. One such task was gambling itself – devising strategies to increase earnings. Another task was learning from loss to ensure smaller losses.
OK, you may have heard about slow learning and fast learning. These two modes occur in different parts of the brain. They both are best in different tasks. We also use them normally at the same time, in parallel, as it were. Alas, when they were losing, the problem gamblers’ brains were more active in a slow-learning part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex. The whole story is more complex than this, but this study might lead to treatments with pharmaceuticals or brain stimulation.
This has been an outreach activity of the Las Cruces Academy, viewable at GreatSchools.org
Source: Caltech News, 18 Dec. 2024 Image: Same
