Problem Gambling News and Research

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Brain atrophy in elderly leads to unintended racism, depression and problem gambling

In a study appearing in the October issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, University of Queensland psychologist, Bill von Hippel, reports that decreased inhibitory ability in late adulthood can lead to unintended prejudice, social inappropriateness, depression, and gambling problems.

24 Sep 2007

Amino acid, N-acetyl cysteine may curb addiction of pathological gamblers

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered that a common amino acid, available as a health food supplement, may help curb pathological gamblers' addiction.

12 Sep 2007

Mahjong epilepsy - a new syndrome

According to doctors in Hong Kong the Chinese tile game of Mahjong can induce epilepsy.

6 Aug 2007

New study explains placebo effect

Why do some people experience a “placebo effect” that makes them feel better when they receive a sham treatment they believe to be real — while other people don't respond at all to the same thing, or even feel worse?

19 Jul 2007

Anti-smoking drug Chantix works for alcohol too

According to researchers a popular anti-smoking pill may also curb the urge to drink alcohol.

10 Jul 2007

Risk-taking in infertility treatment correlates with women's negative moods

A study of women's moods during IVF has found a strong relationship between negative mood and multiple embryo transfer, a scientist told the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Tuesday 3 July).

4 Jul 2007

One in four Britons have mental health problems

The UK's first jargon-fee guide to mental health aimed at the general public is published this week.

4 Jul 2007

Study examines binge drinking and heavy alcohol use among college students

People addicted to alcohol and young adults who are heavy drinkers, but not considered alcoholics, have something in common: they possess poor decision-making skills, according to psychologists at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

28 May 2007

Binge drinking can lead to poor decision making among college students

Researchers know that alcoholics tend to have poorer neurocognitive functioning, including decision making, than non-alcoholics do.

28 May 2007

Fictive learning may play a role in addiction

"What might have been" or fictive learning affects the brain and plays an important role in the choices individuals make, and may play a role in addiction, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers and others in a report that appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

16 May 2007

Study provides new understanding of excessive gambling

People process information about financial loss through mechanisms in the brain similar to those used for processing physical pain, according to a new imaging study.

8 May 2007

Losing money may be intrinsically linked with fear and pain in the brain

In a Wellcome Trust study published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have shown that during a gambling task, losing money activated an area of the brain involved in responding to fear and pain.

4 May 2007

Sleep deprivation can adversely affect a person's decision-making

Gambling is a risky activity that can potentially result in the loss of a significant amount of money.

2 May 2007

Losing money may be intrinsically linked with fear and pain in the brain

In a Wellcome Trust study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have shown that during a gambling task, losing money activated an area of the brain involved in responding to fear and pain.

2 May 2007

Drugs that adjust dopamine levels in the brain greatly affect how people react to success and failure

In a first-of-its-kind study on humans, researchers measured how dopamine-related drugs affect the striatum, a part of the brain that is stimulated by rewards.

27 Apr 2007

Online gambling adds new risks for gamblers with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease sufferers could be adversely affected by the growth of betting on the web because they are more likely to become gambling addicts, says a doctor writing in the British Medical Journal.

20 Apr 2007

Problem gambling is an addiction that medical professionals should be aware of

Decisions about building casinos in the UK have not given enough weight to the potential health effects, argue two doctors in this week's BMJ.

20 Apr 2007

New understanding of drug addiction

The reason why some individuals may be predisposed to drug addiction has been discovered by scientists from the universities of Bristol and Cambridge.

1 Mar 2007

Vasectomy and trouble with words

Northwestern University researchers have discovered men with an unusual form of dementia have a higher rate of vasectomy than men the same age who are cognitively normal.

13 Feb 2007

Therapy for restless legs may trigger compulsive gambling

Compulsive gambling with extreme losses -- in two cases, greater than $100,000 -- by people without a prior history of gambling problems has been linked to a class of drugs commonly used to treat the neurological disorder restless legs syndrome (RLS).

11 Feb 2007