Dataset Information

Problem gamblers share deficits in impulsive decision-making with alcohol-dependent individuals.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

Problem gambling has been proposed to represent a 'behavioural addiction' that may provide key insights into vulnerability mechanisms underlying addiction in brains that are not affected by the damaging effects of drugs. Our aim was to investigate the neurocognitive profile of problem gambling in comparison with alcohol dependence. We reasoned that shared deficits across the two conditions may reflect underlying vulnerability mechanisms, whereas impairments specific to alcohol dependence may reflect cumulative effects of alcohol consumption.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Out-patient addiction treatment centres and university behavioural testing facilities.

Participants

A naturalistic sample of 21 male problem and pathological gamblers, 21 male alcohol-dependent out-patients and 21 healthy male control participants.

Measurements

Neurocognitive battery assessing decision-making, impulsivity and working memory.

Findings

The problem gamblers and alcohol-dependent groups displayed impairments in risky decision-making and cognitive impulsivity relative to controls. Working memory deficits and slowed deliberation times were specific to the alcohol-dependent group.

Conclusions

Gambling and alcohol-dependent groups shared deficits in tasks linked to ventral prefrontal cortical dysfunction. Tasks loading on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were selectively impaired in the alcohol-dependent group, presumably as a consequence of long-term alcohol use.

SUBMITTER: Lawrence AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2773538 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Problem gamblers share deficits in impulsive decision-making with alcohol-dependent individuals.

Lawrence Andrew J AJ Luty Jason J Bogdan Nadine A NA Sahakian Barbara J BJ Clark Luke L

Addiction (Abingdon, England) 20090601 6

<h4>Aims</h4>Problem gambling has been proposed to represent a 'behavioural addiction' that may provide key insights into vulnerability mechanisms underlying addiction in brains that are not affected by the damaging effects of drugs. Our aim was to investigate the neurocognitive profile of problem gambling in comparison with alcohol dependence. We reasoned that shared deficits across the two conditions may reflect underlying vulnerability mechanisms, whereas impairments specific to alcohol depen ...[more]

PMID: 19466924

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Project description:Background and aimsProblem gambling and unhealthy alcohol use often co-occur. The current trial sought to establish whether adding a brief online intervention for unhealthy alcohol use to an online problem gambling intervention would lead to improvements in gambling and drinking among those with both of these concerns.MethodsParticipants were recruited from across Canada using an advertisement targeting those concerned about their gambling who were interested in online help. No mention of unhealthy alcohol use was made in the advertisement. Participants meeting criteria for problem gambling were randomized to either receive just an online intervention for gambling (G-only) or to receive an online gambling intervention plus a brief personalized feedback intervention for unhealthy alcohol use (G + A). Participants were followed up at 3 and 6 months.ResultsA total of 282 participants were recruited for the trial. Follow-up rates were good (80% and 84% at 3 and 6 months). There were significant reductions in gambling (p < .001) across time but no significant differences (p > .05) between those who received either the G-only or G + A interventions. Further, for those with unhealthy alcohol use (41% of the sample), there were no significant reductions in alcohol consumption (p > .05) across time or differences between condition.Discussion and conclusionThe addition of a brief intervention for unhealthy alcohol use to an online intervention for gambling did not appear to improve either gambling or drinking outcomes among people concerned about their gambling. Further research is merited to examine whether a combined intervention (with gambling and drinking components integrated) might result in improved outcomes and whether such an intervention might benefit the subgroup of participants who would specifically seek help for both gambling and alcohol concerns.Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.govNCT03323606; Registration date: October 24, 2017.

Project description:Individuals suffering from pathological gambling (PG) show impaired decision making, but it is still not clear how this impairment is related to other traits and neuroanatomical characteristics. In this study, we investigated how the influence of PG on decision making (1) is connected to different impulsivity facets and (2) how it is related to gray matter volume (GMV) in various brain regions. Twenty-eight diagnosed PG patients and 23 healthy controls completed the cups task to measure decision making. In this task, participants had to decide between safe and risky options, which varied in expected value (EV) between risk advantageous, equal EV, and risk disadvantageous choices. A delay discounting task and the Barrant Impulsiveness Scale were applied to assess multiple impulsivity facets. In addition, structural magnetic resonance images were acquired. In comparison to the control group PG patients demonstrated more deficits in decision making, indicated by less EV sensitivity, but there was no significant difference in number of overall risky choices. Also, PG patients showed increased impulsivity in nearly every dimension. Results revealed (1) a positive correlation between decision making impairments and non-planning impulsivity but no significant relation to other impulsivity facets. Although we found no GMV differences between PG patients and controls, (2) a regions of interest analysis showed a correlation between medial orbitofrontal GMV and EV sensitivity in PG patients. Our findings showed that (1) the association between decision making and impulsivity can also be found in PG patients, but only for certain impulsivity facets. This suggests that it is essential to consider measuring different dimensions, when investigating impulsivity in a PG sample. Secondly, our findings revealed that (2) dysfunctional decision making-particularly the component of risk evaluation-is related to decreased GMV in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, a brain region concerned with processing of rewards. Interestingly, we did not find more risky choices for PG patients, and thus, we assume that decision making deficits in PG are primarily related to risk evaluation, not risk seeking, which is in line with our GMV findings.

Project description:BackgroundJumping-to-conclusions (JTC) is a prominent reasoning bias in schizophrenia (SCZ). While it has been linked to not only psychopathological abnormalities (delusions and impulsive decision-making) but also unstable belief formation, its origin remains unclear. We here directly test to which extend JTC is associated with delusional ideation, impulsive decision-making, and unstable belief formation.MethodsIn total, 45 SCZ patients were compared with matched samples of 45 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 45 healthy controls (HC) as delusions and JTC also occur in other mental disorders and the general population. Participants performed a probabilistic beads task. To test the association of JTC with measures of delusions (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS]positive, PANSSpositive-factor, and Peter Delusions Inventory [PDI]), Bayesian linear regressions were computed. For the link between JTC and impulsive decision-making and unstable beliefs, we conducted between-group comparisons of "draws to decision" (DTD), "decision times" (DT), and "disconfirmatory evidence scores" (DES).ResultsBayesian regression obtained no robust relationship between PDI and DTD (all |R2adj| ≤ .057, all P ≥ .022, all Bayes Factors [BF01] ≤ 0.046; α adj = .00833). Compared with MDD and HC, patients with SCZ needed more time to decide (significantly higher DT in ambiguous trials: all P ≤ .005, r2 ≥ .216; numerically higher DT in other trials). Further, SCZ had unstable beliefs about the correct source jar whenever unexpected changes in bead sequences (disconfirmatory evidence) occurred (compared with MDD: all P ≤ .004 and all r2 ≥ .232; compared with HC: numerically higher DES). No significant correlation was observed between DT and DTD (all P ≥ .050).ConclusionsOur findings point toward a relationship of JTC with unstable belief formation and do not support the assumption that JTC is associated with impulsive decision-making.

Dataset Information

Problem gamblers share deficits in impulsive decision-making with alcohol-dependent individuals.

Aims

Design

Setting

Participants

Measurements

Findings

Conclusions

Publications

Problem gamblers share deficits in impulsive decision-making with alcohol-dependent individuals.

Similar Datasets

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