Department of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Center for Cognitive Sciences (ZKW), University of Bremen, Germany.
Psychiatry Res. 2010 Mar 30;181(3):165-73. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.11.008.
In the present study we obtained functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in occasional gamblers (OG) and problem gamblers (PG) during a quasi-realistic blackjack game. We focused on neuronal correlates of risk assessment and reward processing. Participants had to decide whether to draw or not to draw a card in a high-risk or low-risk blackjack situation. We assumed PG would show differences in prefrontal and ventral striatal brain regions in comparison to OG during risk assessment and due to the winning or losing of money. Although both groups did not differ in behavioral data, blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals in PG and OG significantly differed in thalamic, inferior frontal, and superior temporal regions. Whereas PG demonstrated a consistent signal increase during high-risk situations and a decrease in low-risk situations, OG presented the opposite pattern. During reward processing as derived from contrasting winning vs. losing situations, both PG and OG groups showed an enhancement of ventral striatal and posterior cingulate activity. Furthermore, PG demonstrated a distinct fronto-parietal activation pattern which has been discussed to reflect a cue-induced addiction memory network which was triggered by gambling-related cues.
在本研究中，我们在偶尔赌博者（OG）和问题赌博者（PG）中获得了功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）数据，这些人在近乎真实的 21 点游戏中进行了赌博。我们专注于风险评估和奖励处理的神经元相关性。参与者必须决定在高风险或低风险的 21 点情况下是否要抽牌。我们假设，与 OG 相比，PG 在风险评估期间以及由于赢钱或输钱，其前额叶和腹侧纹状体脑区会出现差异。尽管两组在行为数据上没有差异，但 PG 和 OG 的血氧水平依赖（BOLD）信号在丘脑、下额前区和上颞区明显不同。PG 在高风险情况下表现出一致的信号增加，而在低风险情况下则减少，OG 则呈现相反的模式。在从对比赢钱和输钱的情况中得出的奖励处理过程中，PG 和 OG 组都表现出腹侧纹状体和后扣带回活动的增强。此外，PG 表现出独特的额顶叶激活模式，该模式被认为反映了由与赌博相关的线索触发的成瘾记忆网络。
