Gambling addicts have a poor ability to assess and adapt to high risk situations, a new study suggests
Tokyo: Gambling addicts have a poor ability to assess and adapt to high risk situations, a new study suggests.
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Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan determined flexibility in risk-taking between addicts and non-addicts through a series of gambling tasks, requiring participants to earn a certain amount of credits. Addicts were found to go with a risky strategy even if that choice was sub-optimal, researchers said.
"We observed diminished activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in cognitive flexibility," said Hidehiko Takahashi of Kyoto University. "This indicates that these subjects lack an ability to adapt their behaviour to the risk level of the situation," Takahashi said.
"They also have higher levels of anxiety disorders. So pleasure may not be the goal, but rather an inability to properly recognise risk and adapt accordingly," he said.
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