TY - JOUR

T1 - Dopamine release in ventral striatum during Iowa Gambling Task performance is associated with increased excitement levels in pathological gambling.

AU - Linnet, Jakob

AU - Møller, Arne

AU - Peterson, Ericka

AU - Gjedde, Albert

AU - Doudet, Doris

PY - 2011/2/11

Y1 - 2011/2/11

N2 - Aims Gambling excitement is believed to be associated with biological measures of pathological gambling. Here, wetested the hypothesis that dopamine release would be associated with increased excitement levels in PathologicalGamblers compared with Healthy Controls. Design Pathological Gamblers and Healthy Controlswere experimentallycompared in a non-gambling (baseline) and gambling condition. Measurements We used Positron Emission Tomography(PET) with the tracer raclopride to measure dopamine D 2/3 receptor availability in the ventral striatum duringa non-gambling and gambling condition of the Iowa GamblingTask (IGT). After each condition participants rated theirexcitement level. Setting Laboratory experiment. Participants 18 Pathological Gamblers and 16 Healthy Controls.Findings Pathological Gamblers with dopamine release in the ventral striatum had significantly higher excitementlevels than Healthy Controls despite lower IGT performance. No differences in excitement levels and IGT performancewere found between Pathological Gamblers and Healthy Controls without dopamine release. Pathological Gamblersshowed a significant correlation between dopamine release and excitement level, while no such interaction wasfound in Healthy Controls. Conclusions In pathological gamblers dopamine release in the ventral striatum appearsto be associated with increased excitement levels despite lower IGT performance. The results might suggesta ‘double deficit’ function of dopamine in pathological gambling, where dopamine release reinforces maladaptivegambling through increasing excitement levels, reducing inhibition of risky decisions, or a combination of both. Thesefindings may have implications for the understanding of dopamine in pathological gambling and other forms ofaddiction.

AB - Aims Gambling excitement is believed to be associated with biological measures of pathological gambling. Here, wetested the hypothesis that dopamine release would be associated with increased excitement levels in PathologicalGamblers compared with Healthy Controls. Design Pathological Gamblers and Healthy Controlswere experimentallycompared in a non-gambling (baseline) and gambling condition. Measurements We used Positron Emission Tomography(PET) with the tracer raclopride to measure dopamine D 2/3 receptor availability in the ventral striatum duringa non-gambling and gambling condition of the Iowa GamblingTask (IGT). After each condition participants rated theirexcitement level. Setting Laboratory experiment. Participants 18 Pathological Gamblers and 16 Healthy Controls.Findings Pathological Gamblers with dopamine release in the ventral striatum had significantly higher excitementlevels than Healthy Controls despite lower IGT performance. No differences in excitement levels and IGT performancewere found between Pathological Gamblers and Healthy Controls without dopamine release. Pathological Gamblersshowed a significant correlation between dopamine release and excitement level, while no such interaction wasfound in Healthy Controls. Conclusions In pathological gamblers dopamine release in the ventral striatum appearsto be associated with increased excitement levels despite lower IGT performance. The results might suggesta ‘double deficit’ function of dopamine in pathological gambling, where dopamine release reinforces maladaptivegambling through increasing excitement levels, reducing inhibition of risky decisions, or a combination of both. Thesefindings may have implications for the understanding of dopamine in pathological gambling and other forms ofaddiction.

M3 - Journal article

VL - 106

SP - 383

EP - 390

JO - Addiction

JF - Addiction

SN - 0965-2140

IS - 2

ER -