Lole Lisa, Gonsalvez Craig J, Barry Robert J, Blaszczynski Alex
School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia; Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
Psychophysiology. 2014 Jun;51(6):556-64. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12198. Epub 2014 Mar 3.
Physiological arousal is purportedly a key determinant in the development and maintenance of gambling behaviors, with problem gambling conceptualized in terms of abnormal autonomic responses. Theoretical conceptualizations of problem gambling are discordant regarding the nature of deficit in this disorder; some accounts posit that problem gamblers are hypersensitive to reward, and others that they are hyposensitive to reward and/or punishment. Previous research examining phasic electrodermal responses in gamblers has been limited to laboratory settings, and reactions to real gaming situations need to be examined. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) to losses, wins, and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) were recorded from 15 problem gamblers (PGs) and 15 nonproblem gamblers (NPGs) while they wagered their own money during electronic gaming machine play. PGs demonstrated significantly reduced SCRs to reward. SCRs to losses and LDWs did not differ for either PGs or NPGs. This hyposensitivity to wins may reflect abnormalities in incentive processing, and may represent a potential biological marker for problem gambling.
生理唤醒据称是赌博行为发展和维持的关键决定因素，问题赌博被概念化为异常的自主反应。关于这种障碍中缺陷的性质，问题赌博的理论概念存在分歧；一些观点认为问题赌徒对奖励高度敏感，而另一些观点则认为他们对奖励和/或惩罚反应迟钝。之前研究赌徒阶段性皮肤电反应的研究仅限于实验室环境，需要对他们在实际赌博情境中的反应进行研究。在15名问题赌徒（PGs）和15名非问题赌徒（NPGs）玩电子游戏机并用自己的钱下注时，记录了他们对输、赢以及伪装成赢的输（LDWs）的皮肤电导反应（SCRs）。PGs对奖励的SCRs显著降低。PGs和NPGs对输和LDWs的SCRs没有差异。这种对赢的反应迟钝可能反映了奖励处理过程中的异常，并且可能代表问题赌博的一个潜在生物学标志物。
