Poker in the News

Researchers from Hamburg, Germany have published results in the journal Nature Neuroscience which they say show that parts of the brain which are generally active when people feel rewarded are less active in those people who take drugs or gamble to excess.

Functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor brain activity in 12 compulsive gamblers and 12 non-gamblers while they played a simple card-betting game. The ventral striatum, a part of the brain which signals reward, was less active in the "gamblers" than in the non-gamblers. Drug addicts also exhibit reduced activity in the ventral striatum.

The researchers suggest the explanation could be that people with such addictions cannot maintain the amount of the brain chemical dopamine - which produces feelings of satisfaction and pleasure - which they need in the ventral striatum, through everyday life.

Instead, they need stronger triggers - such as drugs or excessive gambling - to compensate.

I think that this is an interesting study. I think though, that there are some obvious weaknesses in the argument. First of all, their sample size is pretty small--- 24 people total. Secondly, and more serious, is the fact when a "gambler" wins 1 euro, they will naturally not feel as rewarded as when a "non-gambler" wins a euro. Right?

That said, I suspect that gambling is indeed a real addiction-- it's just that this research is questionable.

BBC NEWS | Health | Gamblers' brains addiction clue