Imbalance in the Sensitivity to Different Types of Rewards in Pathological Gambling.

Imbalance in the sensitivity to different types of rewards in pathological gambling.

Brain. 2013 Jun 11;
Sescousse G, Barbalat G, Domenech P, Dreher JC

Pathological gambling is an addictive disorder characterized by a persistent and compulsive desire to engage in gambling activities. This maladaptive behaviour has been suggested to result from a decreased sensitivity to experienced rewards, regardless of reward type. Alternatively, pathological gambling might reflect an imbalance in the sensitivity to monetary versus non-monetary incentives. To directly test these two hypotheses, we examined how the brain reward circuit of pathological gamblers responds to different types of rewards. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared the brain responses of 18 pathological gamblers and 20 healthy control subjects while they engaged in a simple incentive task manipulating both monetary and visual erotic rewards. During reward anticipation, the ventral striatum of pathological gamblers showed a differential response to monetary versus erotic cues, essentially driven by a blunted reactivity to cues predicting erotic stimuli. This differential response correlated with the severity of gambling symptoms and was paralleled by a reduced behavioural motivation for erotic rewards. During reward outcome, a posterior orbitofrontal cortex region, responding to erotic rewards in both groups, was further recruited by monetary gains in pathological gamblers but not in control subjects. Moreover, while ventral striatal activity correlated with subjective ratings assigned to monetary and erotic rewards in control subjects, it only correlated with erotic ratings in gamblers. Our results point to a differential sensitivity to monetary versus non-monetary rewards in pathological gambling, both at the motivational and hedonic levels. Such an imbalance might create a bias towards monetary rewards, potentially promoting addictive gambling behaviour. HubMed – addiction

 

Affective disorders in Parkinson’s disease.

Curr Opin Neurol. 2013 Jun 10;
Aminian KS, Strafella AP

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review explores recent literature pertaining to affective disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Nonmotor symptoms including affective disorders are becoming more widely recognized as complications of Parkinson’s disease. As awareness of these symptoms increases, and new neuroimaging tools are developed and become more accessible, more studies are being conducted pertaining to behavioral complications in Parkinson’s disease. The functional connectivity of the basal ganglia can predispose people with Parkinson’s to develop affective disorders. Furthermore, dopaminergic treatments may exacerbate or trigger behavioral symptoms. It is now understood that changes associated with Parkinson’s disease are widespread, affecting striatal and extrastriatal regions and resulting in alterations in gray matter, white matter, blood flow, metabolism, and dopaminergic and serotonergic function. SUMMARY: Neuroimaging is advancing our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in Parkinson’s disease, and their role in the development of behavioral disorders. An increased understanding of these disorders may lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets, or the identification of risk factors for the development of these disorders. If preventive therapies become available, identification of risk factors will be important for the identification and treatment of susceptible individuals. HubMed – addiction

 

Noninvasive remote activation of the ventral midbrain by transcranial direct current stimulation of prefrontal cortex.

Transl Psychiatry. 2013; 3: e268
Chib VS, Yun K, Takahashi H, Shimojo S

The midbrain lies deep within the brain and has an important role in reward, motivation, movement and the pathophysiology of various neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, depression and addiction. To date, the primary means of acting on this region has been with pharmacological interventions or implanted electrodes. Here we introduce a new noninvasive brain stimulation technique that exploits the highly interconnected nature of the midbrain and prefrontal cortex to stimulate deep brain regions. Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the prefrontal cortex, we were able to remotely activate the interconnected midbrain and cause increases in participants’ appraisals of facial attractiveness. Participants with more enhanced prefrontal/midbrain connectivity following stimulation exhibited greater increases in attractiveness ratings. These results illustrate that noninvasive direct stimulation of prefrontal cortex can induce neural activity in the distally connected midbrain, which directly effects behavior. Furthermore, these results suggest that this tDCS protocol could provide a promising approach to modulate midbrain functions that are disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. HubMed – addiction

 


 

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