Abstract
ABSTRACTGambling disorder (GD) is characterized by an inability to stop or control gambling behaviour and is often accompanied by gambling-related cognitive distortions. Task-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have revealed abnormal responses within the prefrontal and insular cortex, and mesolimbic reward regions. Studies examining resting-state functional connectivity in GD, although limited in number, have so far applied seed-based analysis approaches which revealed altered brain functioning. Here, we applied data-driven Independent Components Analysis to resting-state multi-echo fMRI data. Networks of interest were selected by spatially correlating them to independently derived network templates. Using dual regression, we compared connectivity strength between 20 GD patients and 20 healthy controls within 4 well-known networks (the ventral attention, limbic, frontoparietal control, and default mode network) and an additional basal ganglia component. Compared to controls, GD patients showed increased integration of the right middle insula within the ventral attention network, an area suggested to play an important role in addiction-related drive. Moreover, our findings indicate that gambling-related cognitive distortions – a hallmark of GD – were positively related to stronger integration of the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex and insula within various resting-state networks.
Highlights
Gambling disorder (GD) is a behavioural addiction characterized by an inability to stop or control gambling behaviour and is often accompanied by gambling-related cognitive distortions; that is, false beliefs about skill and chance in gambling games
Compared to healthy control subjects (HCs), the number of education years was significantly lower in GD patients
There were significantly more tobacco smoking GD patients than HCs, the severity of nicotine dependence was similar across groups within smoking subjects
Summary
Gambling disorder (GD) is a behavioural addiction characterized by an inability to stop or control gambling behaviour and is often accompanied by gambling-related cognitive distortions; that is, false beliefs about skill and chance in gambling games. Most studies have focused on decision-making in GD, showing consistent disadvantageous risky decision-making in GD, accompanied by abnormal responses within prefrontal control regions, mesolimbic reward regions and the insula (Fauth-Bühler, Mann, & Potenza, 2017; Limbrick-Oldfield et al, 2017). Such task-related functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies could be confounded by the fact that many decision-making tasks resemble gambling games, which are experienced differently by gamblers compared to healthy control subjects (HCs). Such resting-state fMRI studies assess functional connectivity within and between circuits and systems, based on the temporal correlation of the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal
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