Cravings

Question 1

Gambling and Pavlovian Conditioning

Answer 1

• Cues associated with gambling become conditioned stimuli that drive:
• • Dopamine release
• • Physiological arousal
• • Subjective excitement
• With uncertain rewards, there could be additional anticipatory activity (a dopamine “double-hit”)

Question 2

Clark’s study: cues and cravings in the brain (study basics)

Answer 2

• looking at patients with gambling disorder vs. healthy controls
• Gambling cues were tailored to the preferred games of each participant (ie. If you were addicted to slot machines, you saw slot machines)
• Used highly appetizing food images to test whether other reward processing altered
• Took cravings rating after each block of images (“I crave gambling right now”, rating 1-9)
• Analysed brain connectivity changes (with striatal) as well as brain activity

Question 3

Clark’s study: cues and cravings in the brain (study results)

Answer 3

• Those with gambling disorder showed increased craving ratings overall, especially after blocks of gambling images
• In all subjects, gambling cues stimulate more activity than neutral cues
• Gamblers show more activity to gambling cues than control group
• Correlation with craving: Areas where activity changes fluctuate with craving ratings in problem gamblers –> insula
• • In another study, smokers who suffered a stroke that damaged the insula were able to easily quit -> didn’t have any more cravings (more evidence of importance of insula in cravings)

Question 4

Winstanley’s rat gambling task (study basics)

Answer 4

• Rats can stick nose through hole to pick deck of cards -> chance of winning food pellet or “losing” (light goes out, rat gets 10-second “time out”)
• • Some decks are safer or riskier than others
• She adds onto this a cued or uncued condition (certain decks get different lights and sounds when rats win -> intensity is proportional to food reward they’re getting)

Question 5

Winstanley’s rat gambling task (study results)

Answer 5

• Control/uncued group does very well -> they choose the deck with the highest expected value
• Cued condition shows increased preference to the risky decks because of the feedback