Gambling Near-Misses Enhance Motivation to Gamble and Recruit Win-Related Brain Circuitry

Luke Clark,Andrew J Lawrence,Frances Astley-Jones,Nicola Gray

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2008.12.031

Abstract

Summary“Near-miss” events, where unsuccessful outcomes are proximal to the jackpot, increase gambling propensity and may be associated with the addictiveness of gambling, but little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie their potency. Using a simplified slot machine task, we measured behavioral and neural responses to gambling outcomes. Compared to “full-misses,” near-misses were experienced as less pleasant, but increased desire to play. This effect was restricted to trials where the subject had personal control over arranging their gamble. Near-miss outcomes recruited striatal and insula circuitry that also responded to monetary wins; in addition, near-miss-related activity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex varied as a function of personal control. Insula activity to near-misses correlated with self-report ratings as well as a questionnaire measure of gambling propensity. These data indicate that near-misses invigorate gambling through the anomalous recruitment of reward circuitry, despite the objective lack of monetary reinforcement on these trials.

Highlights

Behavioral Study (Experiment 1) Supplementary Results The number of response omissions during the selection phase was low overall but omissions were more likely on participant-chosen trials than computer-chosen trials (Wilcoxon signed ranks Z=2.51, p=.012)
Experiment 2 Behavioral Data The number of response omissions during the selection phase was low overall and the number of omissions did not differ between participant-chosen trials and computer-chosen trials (Wilcoxon signed ranks Z=.782, p=.434), indicating comparable attention across the two conditions
When this analysis was restricted to near-misses that had passed through the payline (type I nearmisses), there were three significant clusters in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex: -4, 38, 2 (z=4.34, pFWE-corr=.005), 4, 34, 2 (z=3.97, pFWE-corr =.019) and 6, 38, 2 (z=3.67, pFWE-corr =.049)

Summary

Introduction

Behavioral Study (Experiment 1) Supplementary Results The number of response omissions during the selection phase was low overall (mean over 60 trials =2.33 sd 2.35) but omissions were more likely on participant-chosen trials (mean 1.45) than computer-chosen trials (mean 0.88) (Wilcoxon signed ranks Z=2.51, p=.012). Ratings were higher on participant-chosen trials than computer-chosen trials (t39=2.50, p=.017). On near-miss outcomes, ratings were significantly lower on participant-chosen trials than computer-chosen trials (t39=-4.21, p

Results

Conclusion