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SUMMARY:The psychology of gambling and gambling addiction - Luke Clark (De
 pt of Psychology)
DTSTART:20121029T160000Z
DTEND:20121029T173000Z
UID:TALK40164@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mandy Carter
DESCRIPTION:Gambling is a classic risky behaviour\, and despite widespread
 \nacceptance that 'the house always wins'\, gambling remains a popular and
 \nexpanding form of entertainment in the UK. It can also become dysfunctio
 nal\nin a small but significant minority of 'problem gamblers'. This talk 
 will\nhighlight some recent research looking at the brain mechanisms that\
 nunderlie gambling decisions. I will describe some neuropsychological\nsim
 ilarities between problem gamblers\, patients with alcohol dependence\,\na
 nd brain-injured patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal\ncort
 ex. I will also describe some brain imaging data looking at how the\nbrain
  responds to 'near-miss' events\, which are an important factor in\nencour
 aging gamblers to continue to play. These findings illustrate both\nthe fa
 llibility of decision-making mechanisms in the general population\,\nand a
 lso the possible routes by which gambling can become an addictive\nbehavio
 ur.\n\nKey refs: Clark L\, Lawrence AJ\, Astley-Jones F\, Gray N. Gambling
 \nnear-misses enhance motivation to gamble and recruit win-related brain\n
 circuitry. Neuron 2009\, 61: 481-490. Lawrence AJ\, Luty J\, Bogdan N\,\nS
 ahakian BJ\, Clark L. Problem gamblers share deficits in impulsive\ndecisi
 on-making with alcohol-dependent individuals. Addiction\, 104:\n1006-1015.
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre\, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences\, 15 Chaucer R
 oad\, Cambridge
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