Background
Continued gambling to recover previous losses (“loss-chasing”) is central to pathological
gambling. However, very little is known about the neural mechanisms that mediate this
behavior.
Methods
We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural activity while
healthy adult participants decided to chase losses or decided to quit gambling to
prevent further losses.
Results
Chasing losses was associated with increased activity in cortical areas linked to
incentive-motivation and an expectation of reward. By contrast, quitting was associated
with decreased activity in these areas but increased activity in areas associated
with anxiety and conflict monitoring. Activity within the anterior cingulate cortex
associated with the experience of chasing and then losing predicted decisions to stop
chasing losses at the next opportunity.
Conclusions
Excessive loss-chasing behavior in pathological gambling might involve a failure to
appropriately balance activity within neural systems coding conflicting motivational
states. Similar mechanisms might underlie the loss-of-control over appetitive behaviors
in other impulse control disorders.
Key Words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: July 28, 2007
Accepted:
May 3,
2007
Received in revised form:
April 23,
2007
Received:
December 22,
2006
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
