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SUMMARY:The psychology of gambling and gambling addiction - Luke Clark (De
 partment of Psychology)
DTSTART:20131125T160000Z
DTEND:20131125T173000Z
UID:TALK46723@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mandy Carter
DESCRIPTION:Gambling is a classic risky behaviour\, and despite widespread
  acceptance that ‘the house always wins’\, gambling remains a popular 
 and expanding form of entertainment in the UK. It can also become dysfunct
 ional in a small but significant minority of ‘problem gamblers’. This 
 talk will highlight some recent research looking at the brain mechanisms t
 hat underlie gambling decisions. I will describe some neuropsychological s
 imilarities between problem gamblers\, patients with alcohol dependence\, 
 and brain-injured patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cort
 ex. I will also describe some brain imaging data looking at how the brain 
 responds to ‘near-miss’ events\, which are an important factor in enco
 uraging gamblers to continue to play. These findings illustrate both the f
 allibility of decision-making mechanisms in the general population\, and a
 lso the possible routes by which gambling can become an addictive behaviou
 r.\n\nKey refs: Clark L\, Lawrence AJ\, Astley-Jones F\, Gray N. Gambling 
 near-misses enhance motivation to gamble and recruit win-related brain cir
 cuitry. Neuron 2009\, 61: 481-490. Lawrence AJ\, Luty J\, Bogdan N\, Sahak
 ian BJ\, Clark L. Problem gamblers share deficits in impulsive decision-ma
 king with alcohol-dependent individuals. Addiction\, 104: 1006-1015.
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, Department of Psychology\, Downing Site\, Cambridg
 e
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