Abstract
BackgroundMotivational and cognitive abnormalities are frequently reported in pathological gambling. However, studies simultaneously investigating motivational and cognitive processing in problematic gamblers are lacking, limiting our understanding of the interplay between these systems in problematic gambling. Studies in non-clinical samples indicate that interactions between dorsal “executive” and ventral “affective” processing systems are necessary for adequate responses in various emotive situations.MethodsWe conducted a generalized Psycho-Physiological Interaction (gPPI) analysis to assess the influence of affective stimuli on changes in functional connectivity associated with response inhibition in 16 treatment seeking problematic gamblers (PRGs) and 15 healthy controls (HCs) using an affective Go-NoGo fMRI paradigm including neutral, gambling-related, positive and negative pictures as neutral and affective conditions.ResultsAcross groups, task performance accuracy during neutral inhibition trials was positively correlated with functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right middle frontal cortex. During inhibition in the gambling condition, only in PRGs accuracy of task performance was positively correlated with functional connectivity within sub-regions of the dorsal executive system. Group interactions showed that during neutral inhibition, HCs exhibited greater functional connectivity between the left caudate and occipital cortex than PRGs. In contrast, during inhibition in the positive condition, PRGs compared to HCs showed greater functional connectivity between the left caudate and occipital cortex. During inhibition trials in the negative condition, a stronger functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right anterior cingulate cortex in PRGs compared to HCs was present. There were no group interactions during inhibition in the gambling condition.ConclusionsDuring gamble inhibition PRGs seem to benefit more from functional connectivity within the dorsal executive system than HCs, because task accuracy in this condition in PRGs is positively correlated with functional connectivity, although the groups show similar connectivity patterns during gamble inhibition. Greater functional connectivity between the ventral affective system and the dorsal executive system in PRGs in the affective conditions compared to HCs, suggests facilitation of the dorsal executive system when affective stimuli are present specifically in PRGs.
Highlights
Pathological gambling, currently classified as an impulse control disorder in the DSM-IV, has been regarded as a ‘behavioral addiction’ by many researchers [1,2,3] and is expected to be incorporated in the new DSM-V under the new category of ‘‘Addiction and Related Disorders’’
The cognitive executive process of response inhibition is responsible for interruption of ongoing behavior and depends on the right inferior frontal cortex (IFC; especially the frontal operculum extending into the insula), the superior frontal cortex (SFC) and the medial frontal cortex (MFC; the pre-supplementary motor areas) [5,6,7,8,9,10]
We present a new analysis of previously published functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data [31] using a functional connectivity technique, generalized PsychoPhysiological Interactions, which allows us to investigate the effect of affective stimuli on functional connectivity patterns during response inhibition in problematic gamblers (PRGs) and healthy controls (HCs)
Summary
Pathological gambling, currently classified as an impulse control disorder in the DSM-IV, has been regarded as a ‘behavioral addiction’ by many researchers [1,2,3] and is expected to be incorporated in the new DSM-V under the new category of ‘‘Addiction and Related Disorders’’. Despite the phenomenological evidence of abnormalities in a variety of cognitive and motivational functions in problem gambling and its neural mechanisms [4], studies addressing both functional systems simultaneously are lacking. This limits our understanding of the interplay between these systems in problem gambling, which is needed to further elucidate the etiology of this disorder. Studies simultaneously investigating motivational and cognitive processing in problematic gamblers are lacking, limiting our understanding of the interplay between these systems in problematic gambling. Studies in non-clinical samples indicate that interactions between dorsal ‘‘executive’’ and ventral ‘‘affective’’ processing systems are necessary for adequate responses in various emotive situations
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