oc tober 2007

brain
b r i e f i n g s

Reprinted with permission of AAAS. From Science. 2007;315:515-518.

Once considered a Gambling and Risk-Taking

character defect, You hold your breath as the

gambling is now wheel spins on the roulette
known to be a highly table. You briefly close your

Tom SM, Fox CR, Trepel C, Poldrack RA.

addictive disorder with eyes as the croupier deals you
neurological causes. another card at the blackjack

Thanks to new advances table. You stand frozen in

in brain imaging, place as the horse you bet on

scientists are beginning

lunges toward the finish line.
At such moments—when
to identify the neural
you’re anticipating the possibil-
mechanisms that go
ity of a financial reward—cer-
awry in the brains
tain areas of your brain jump
of pathological and
into action. The particular
problem gamblers. What
pattern of that activity, neuro-
they’re learning from
scientists are now discovering,
such research is also
helps identify how risk-averse
shedding light on how
you are—not only when you’re
these same mechanisms
at the gambling table or the
determine individual
racetrack, but when you ponder
risk tolerance—and
any decision that involves some
influence the financial
financial risk. Should you take
choices we all make a new job? Should you invest in
throughout our lives. a new business? Should you put
your savings in potentially vola-
tile stocks or in the “sure thing”
of a bank certificate of deposit?
Those same neural pat-
terns may also reveal whether
you’re at risk of becoming a
pathological gambler, someone
so addicted to gambling that
you continue the activity even
while mounting losses ruin
your personal finances and
relationships. An estimated 2
million Americans have this
▲  The two sets of images above illustrate how brain activity differs when
we contemplate financial losses and gains. The blue areas at left are those
that become deactivated as we make decisions that will likely cause us to lose
money. The orange and red areas at right show the activation that occurs in
the brain when we believe the odds are in our favor and we’ll win money.
devastating impulse control drugs for Parkinson’s disease
disorder. Another 4 million to trigger gambling and other
8 million are problem gam- compulsive behaviors.
blers, a slightly less severe ∫  A broader understanding
form of compulsive gambling of the connections between
that leads to mild to moder- neuroscience and economic
ate problems with daily life. decision-making, a field
Using specially developed called neuroeconomics.
gambling games and advanced Recent studies have found
neuroimaging techniques, that when we anticipate fi-
scientists can now observe what nancial gains—whether at the
happens in the brain when peo- gaming tables or on the stock
ple are involved in gambling or market—an area of our brain
other risky financial activities. known as the ventral striatum
This research is leading to: becomes activated and flooded
∫  Greater knowledge about with dopamine, a brain chemi-
the neurobiology common to cal linked to pleasurable sensa-
gambling and other addictive tions. The release of this chemi-
behaviors. cal also occurs during physically
∫  The development of more rewarding activities such as
effective treatments for these eating, sex and taking drugs,
addictions. and is a key factor behind our
∫  An explanation of why some desire to repeat these activities.
 D avid Van Esse n , Ph D When we start to consider
President the possibility of losing money,
Washington University however, the same brain areas
School of Medicine become less active. In fact, most
people’s brains show more
Eve E. Marde r , Ph D
negative sensitivity to losses
President-Elect than positive sensitivity to
Brandeis University gains—neural evidence of our
tendency toward risk aversion.
Stephen F. Heinemann, PhD
In one study, researchers could
Past President
predict how tolerant individu-
The Salk Institute
als were to risk by analyzing
how their brains responded to
For m or e infor m at ion
potential gains versus potential
Please contact the public
losses. Those whose brains were
information department
less turned off by the possibility
at publicinfo@sfn.org or
of increasing their losses tended
(202) 962-4000
to be more eager gamblers.
In pathological gamblers,
past i s s u e s
neural activity in the ventral
www.sfn.org/briefings
striatum remains remarkably
unreactive—even during
winning streaks. Their
brains also show decreased
activation in the ventrolateral
C o p yri ght © 2007 so c iety fo r n e u ro sci e n c e prefrontal cortex—the brain’s
gambling and risk-taking
“superego”—which, when
functioning normally, keeps
people from acting impulsively.
This finding may explain
why pathological gamblers
keep betting despite the
havoc it inflicts on their lives.
To maintain even a normal
level of dopamine in their
brains, they must gamble with
increasing frequency—and
often for greater and greater
stakes. And the impulse
control in their brain is not
functioning properly. Drug
addicts show a similar brain
pattern—and a similar need to
keep feeding their addiction.
Recently, pathological gam-
bling has been found to be
a rare side effect of specific
types of dopamine agonists,
drugs used to treat the tremors
and balance problems associ-
ated with Parkinson’s disease.
The dopamine boost from
these drugs appears to over-
load receptors in the ventral
striatum, causing an irresist-
ible urge to gamble. The effect
does not occur in everybody
who takes dopamine agonists
and it dissipates once the
medication is discontinued.
As neuroscientists continue
to study the reward pathway
of the brain and its role in
gambling and other risk-
taking, they’re gaining insight
into many other neurological
illnesses, including bipolar
disorder and schizophrenia,
which also involve a distorted
sense of risk and lack of
impulse control. Such research
offers hope for new and
effective treatment for millions
of Americans and their families.
And it also promises to help
keep the number of visits
to the track and gambling
table at an affordable level.
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