248 research outputs found
Impaired decisional impulsivity in pathological videogamers
Abstract
Background
Pathological gaming is an emerging and poorly understood problem. Impulsivity is commonly impaired in disorders of behavioural and substance addiction, hence we sought to systematically investigate the different subtypes of decisional and motor impulsivity in a well-defined pathological gaming cohort.
Methods
Fifty-two pathological gaming subjects and age-, gender- and IQ-matched healthy volunteers were tested on decisional impulsivity (Information Sampling Task testing reflection impulsivity and delay discounting questionnaire testing impulsive choice), and motor impulsivity (Stop Signal Task testing motor response inhibition, and the premature responding task). We used stringent diagnostic criteria highlighting functional impairment.
Results
In the Information Sampling Task, pathological gaming participants sampled less evidence prior to making a decision and scored fewer points compared with healthy volunteers. Gaming severity was also negatively correlated with evidence gathered and positively correlated with sampling error and points acquired. In the delay discounting task, pathological gamers made more impulsive choices, preferring smaller immediate over larger delayed rewards. Pathological gamers made more premature responses related to comorbid nicotine use. Greater number of hours played also correlated with a Motivational Index. Greater frequency of role playing games was associated with impaired motor response inhibition and strategy games with faster Go reaction time.
Conclusions
We show that pathological gaming is associated with impaired decisional impulsivity with negative consequences in task performance. Decisional impulsivity may be a potential target in therapeutic management
Can disordered mobile phone use be considered a behavioral addiction? An update on current evidence and a comprehensive model for future research
Despite the many positive outcomes, excessive mobile phone use is now often associated with potentially harmful and/or disturbing behaviors (e.g., symptoms of deregulated use, negative impact on various aspects of daily life such as relationship problems, and work intrusion). Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has generally been considered as a behavioral addiction that shares many features with more established drug addictions. In light of the most recent data, the current paper reviews the validity of the behavioral addiction model when applied to PMPU. On the whole, it is argued that the evidence supporting PMPU as an addictive behavior is scarce. In particular, it lacks studies that definitively show behavioral and neurobiological similarities between mobile phone addiction and other types of legitimate addictive behaviors. Given this context, an integrative pathway model is proposed that aims to provide a theoretical framework to guide future research in the field of PMPU. This model highlights that PMPU is a heterogeneous and multi-faceted condition
Altered orbitofrontal sulcogyral patterns in gambling disorder: a multicenter study
Gambling disorder is a serious psychiatric condition characterized by decision-making and reward processing
impairments that are associated with dysfunctional brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, it remains
unclear whether OFC functional abnormalities in gambling disorder are accompanied by structural abnormalities. We
addressed this question by examining the organization of sulci and gyri in the OFC. This organization is in place very
early and stable across life, such that OFC sulcogyral patterns (classified into Types I, II, and III) can be regarded as
potential pre-morbid markers of pathological conditions. We gathered structural brain data from nine existing studies,
reaching a total of 165 individuals with gambling disorder and 159 healthy controls. Our results, supported by both
frequentist and Bayesian statistics, show that the distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns is skewed in individuals with
gambling disorder, with an increased prevalence of Type II pattern compared with healthy controls. Examination of
gambling severity did not reveal any significant relationship between OFC sulcogyral patterns and disease severity.
Altogether, our results provide evidence for a skewed distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns in gambling disorder and
suggest that pattern Type II might represent a pre-morbid structural brain marker of the disease. It will be important to
investigate more closely the functional implications of these structural abnormalities in future work.Y.L. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant
No. 31600929) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities (010914380002). G.S. was supported by a Veni grant from the
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (Grant No. 016.155.218). J.J.
was supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 295580), the Finnish
Medical Foundation, and the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies. V.K. was
supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 256836) and the Finnish
Foundation for Alcohol Studies. S.G. and H.R.S. were supported by the Danish
Council for Independent Research in Social Sciences through a grant to
Thomas Ramsøy (“Decision Neuroscience Project”; Grant No. 0601-01361B) and
by the Lundbeck Foundation through a Grant of Excellence (“ContAct”; Grant
No. R59 A5399). A.G. was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG) HE2597/15–1, HE2597/15–2, and DFG Graduiertenkolleg 1589/2 “Sensory
Computation in Neural Systems”. N.R.-S. was supported by a research grant by
the Senatsverwaltung für Gesundheit und Soziales, Berlin, Germany (Grant No.
002–2008/I B 35). C.M.R.d.L. and J.C.P. were supported by a grant from the
Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de
Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación; Convocatoria 2017 de
Proyectos I+D de Excelencia, Spain; co-funded by the Fondo Europeo de
Desarrollo Regional, FEDER, European Union; Grant No. PSI2017–85488-P). J.-C.
D. was supported by “LABEX ANR-11-LABEX-0042” of Université de Lyon within
the program Investissements d’Avenir (ANR-11-IDEX-007) operated by the
French National Research Agency and by a grant from the Fondation pour la
Recherche Médicale (Grant No. DPA20140629796)
Altered orbitofrontal sulcogyral patterns in gambling disorder: a multicenter study
Gambling disorder is a serious psychiatric condition characterized by decision-making and reward processing impairments that are associated with dysfunctional brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, it remains unclear whether OFC functional abnormalities in gambling disorder are accompanied by structural abnormalities. We addressed this question by examining the organization of sulci and gyri in the OFC. This organization is in place very early and stable across life, such that OFC sulcogyral patterns (classified into Types I, II, and III) can be regarded as potential pre-morbid markers of pathological conditions. We gathered structural brain data from nine existing studies, reaching a total of 165 individuals with gambling disorder and 159 healthy controls. Our results, supported by both frequentist and Bayesian statistics, show that the distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns is skewed in individuals with gambling disorder, with an increased prevalence of Type II pattern compared with healthy controls. Examination of gambling severity did not reveal any significant relationship between OFC sulcogyral patterns and disease severity. Altogether, our results provide evidence for a skewed distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns in gambling disorder and suggest that pattern Type II might represent a pre-morbid structural brain marker of the disease. It will be important to investigate more closely the functional implications of these structural abnormalities in future work
Microwave studies of the fractional Josephson effect in HgTe-based Josephson junctions
The rise of topological phases of matter is strongly connected to their
potential to host Majorana bound states, a powerful ingredient in the search
for a robust, topologically protected, quantum information processing. In order
to produce such states, a method of choice is to induce superconductivity in
topological insulators. The engineering of the interplay between
superconductivity and the electronic properties of a topological insulator is a
challenging task and it is consequently very important to understand the
physics of simple superconducting devices such as Josephson junctions, in which
new topological properties are expected to emerge. In this article, we review
recent experiments investigating topological superconductivity in topological
insulators, using microwave excitation and detection techniques. More
precisely, we have fabricated and studied topological Josephson junctions made
of HgTe weak links in contact with two Al or Nb contacts. In such devices, we
have observed two signatures of the fractional Josephson effect, which is
expected to emerge from topologically-protected gapless Andreev bound states.
We first recall the theoretical background on topological Josephson junctions,
then move to the experimental observations. Then, we assess the topological
origin of the observed features and conclude with an outlook towards more
advanced microwave spectroscopy experiments, currently under development.Comment: Lectures given at the San Sebastian Topological Matter School 2017,
published in "Topological Matter. Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences,
vol 190. Springer
Brain Imaging Studies in Pathological Gambling
This article reviews the neuroimaging research on pathological gambling (PG). Because of the similarities between substance dependence and PG, PG research has used paradigms similar to those used in substance use disorder research, focusing on reward and punishment sensitivity, cue reactivity, impulsivity, and decision making. This review shows that PG is consistently associated with blunted mesolimbic-prefrontal cortex activation to nonspecific rewards, whereas these areas show increased activation when exposed to gambling-related stimuli in cue exposure paradigms. Very little is known, and hence more research is needed regarding the neural underpinnings of impulsivity and decision making in PG. This review concludes with a discussion regarding the challenges and new developments in the field of neurobiological gambling research and comments on their implications for the treatment of PG
Understanding within-session loss-chasing: an experimental investigation of the impact of stake size on cognitive control
Loss-chasing is a central feature of problematic gambling, yet it remains a
poorly conceived and understood concept. Loss-chasing is believed to stem from an ero-
sion of cognitive control when gambling. The opportunity to gamble at significantly dis-
parate stake sizes on a gambling activity is considered to be a risk factor for loss-chasing.
This study investigated the impact of gambling at disparate stake sizes on executive
processes integral to maintaining cognitive control when gambling, namely response
inhibition and reflection impulsivity. Frequent adult non-problem gamblers (n = 32)
participated in a repeated measures experiment; and gambled at three disparate stake sizes
(£20, £2 and no stake per bet) on a simulated gambling task. Participants’ response
inhibition performance and reflection impulsivity levels after gambling at various stake
sizes were compared via a go/no-go task and information sampling task, respectively.
Quality of decision-making i.e. the evaluation of available information to make probability
judgements was impaired after gambling at higher stakes in comparison to lower stakes,
indicating an increase in reflection impulsivity. No effect on response inhibition was
observed. Although exploratory, this suggests that the opportunity for participants to
substantially increase stake size on a gambling activity may be a risk factor for impaired
cognitive performance when gambling, and perhaps create vulnerability for within-session
loss-chasing in some players.
Keywords Problem gambling -
Cognitive control -
Loss-chasing -
Response inhibition -
Reflection impulsivit
The relationship between gambling event frequency, motor response inhibition, arousal, and dissociative experience
Speed of play has been identified as a key structural characteristic in gambling behaviour, where games involving higher playing speeds enhance the experience of gambling. Of interest in the present study is the consistent finding that games with higher event frequencies are preferred by problem gamblers and are associated with more negative gambling outcomes, such as difficulty quitting the game and increased monetary loss. The present study investigated the impact of gambling speed of play on executive control functioning, focusing on how increased speeds of play impact motor response inhibition, and the potential mediating role arousal and dissociative experience play in this relationship. Fifty regular non-problem gamblers took part in a repeated-measures experiment where they gambled with real money on a simulated slot machine across five speed of play conditions. Response inhibition was measured using an embedded Go/No-Go task, where participants had to withhold motor responses, rather than operating the spin button on the slot machine when a specific colour cue was present. Results indicated that response inhibition performance was significantly worse during faster speeds of play, and that the role of arousal in this relationship was independent of any motor priming affect. The implications of these findings for gambling legislation and gambling harm-minimisation approaches are discussed
Blunted endogenous opioid release following an oral amphetamine challenge in pathological gamblers
Pathological gambling is a psychiatric disorder and the first recognized behavioral addiction, with similarities to substance use disorders but without the confounding effects of drug-related brain changes. Pathophysiology within the opioid receptor system is increasingly recognized in substance dependence, with higher mu-opioid receptor (MOR) availability reported in alcohol, cocaine and opiate addiction. Impulsivity, a risk factor across the addictions, has also been found to be associated with higher MOR availability. The aim of this study was to characterize baseline MOR availability and endogenous opioid release in pathological gamblers (PG) using [(11)C]carfentanil PET with an oral amphetamine challenge. Fourteen PG and 15 healthy volunteers (HV) underwent two [(11)C]carfentanil PET scans, before and after an oral administration of 0.5 mg/kg of d-amphetamine. The change in [(11)C]carfentanil binding between baseline and post-amphetamine scans (ΔBPND) was assessed in 10 regions of interest (ROI). MOR availability did not differ between PG and HV groups. As seen previously, oral amphetamine challenge led to significant reductions in [(11)C]carfentanil BPND in 8/10 ROI in HV. PG demonstrated significant blunting of opioid release compared with HV. PG also showed blunted amphetamine-induced euphoria and alertness compared with HV. Exploratory analysis revealed that impulsivity positively correlated with caudate baseline BPND in PG only. This study provides the first evidence of blunted endogenous opioid release in PG. Our findings are consistent with growing evidence that dysregulation of endogenous opioids may have an important role in the pathophysiology of addictions
- …