gambling addiction
Mind's High Mailinglist
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_addiction
According to the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery Recent
evidence indicates that pathological gambling is an addiction similar
to chemical addiction. It has been seen that some pathological
gamblers have lower levels of norepinephrine than normal gamblers.
According to a study conducted by Alec Roy, M.D. formerly at the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, norepinephrine is
secreted under stress, arousal, or thrill, so pathological gamblers
gamble to make up for their underdosage.
Further to this, according to a report from the Harvard Medical School
Division on Addictions there was an experiment constructed where test
subjects were presented with siuations where they could win, lose or
break even in a casino-like environment. Subjects' reactions were
measured using a fMRI, a neuro-imaging device very similar to a MRI.
And according to Hans Breiter, MD, co-director of the motivation and
Emotion Neuroscience Centre at the Massachusetts General Hospital,
"Monetary reward in a gambling-like experiment produces brain
activation very similar to that observed in a cocaine addict receiving
an infusion of cocaine."