Gambling addiction can be spotted in the brain New study reveals impaired communication across various brain regions in compulsive gamblers. This suggests that gambling addiction may be more due to a deviation in the brain than a weakness of character. Oct 18, 2014 Gambling is wildly popular in the U.S., where about two to three percent of the population report being addicted. Other studies have shown that the population as a whole spends up to $5 billion annually on gambling activities.

Unlike drugs and alcohol, excess Internet usage could help your career, make you more informed and keep you up-to-date with the latest hilarious memes. But a recent (small) study by researchers in China showed that too much Internet usage — to the point that it's an addiction — can cause structural damage to your brain.

The researchers studied 17 adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) and found structural and functional interference in the part of the brain that regulates organization, possibly causing cognitive impairment similar to that caused by gambling and alcoholism.

Here's the science behind it: White matter is composed of nerve cells, while the gray matter that we hear so much about is made up of cell bodies. Myelin is a type of fat in the white part (nerve-heavy area) of the brain. This fat insulates the white matter in the brain and makes the transmission speed between nerve signals fast.

The researchers took MRI scans of the subjects and used a method called fractional anisotropy (FA), which measures organization in the brain by locating the presence of white matter. The teens in the study who had been diagnosed with Internet addition showed lower FA than the typical teens. However, the study only tested 17 young people with IAD and compared them against 16 healthy control subjects.

'Overall, our findings indicate that Internet addiction disorder has abnormal white matter integrity in brain regions involved in emotional generation and processing, executive attention, decision making and cognitive control,' write the authors. 'The results also suggest that IAD may share psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of substance addiction and impulse control disorders.'

Internet addiction is not officially recognized as a disorder because it has yet to be classified in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), an encyclopedia of mental and cognitive-related conditions that's a virtual bible for psychologists. But the American Journal of Psychiatry says IAD is common and should be included in the DSM-V, due out May 2013.

People struggling with addiction often exhibit the same types of compulsive and impulsive behaviors. Something becomes an addiction when it interferes with daily activities and the person's ability to enjoy life without that thing — whether drugs, gambling, Internet or some other vice.

Some people might joke they're addicted to their smartphone or computer, but there's a difference between a constructive and enjoyable habit, and a real addiction.

Are you addicted to the Internet? Take the poll below and read these symptoms from the American Journal of Psychiatry's article about Internet addiction:

'All of the variants share the following four components: 1) excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives; 2) withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible; 3) tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software or more hours of use, and 4) negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation and fatigue.'

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Do you think a person can be clinically addicted to the Internet?

(Redirected from Damage to the Frontal Lobe)

This image shows the four lobes of the human brain: the frontal lobe (red), the parietal lobe (orange), the temporal lobe (green), and the occipital lobe (yellow). Also shown are the insular cortex (purple), the brain stem (black), and the cerebellum (blue).

The frontal lobe of the human brain is both relatively large in mass and less restricted in movement than the posterior portion of the brain.^[1] It is a component of the cerebral system, which supports goal directed behavior.^[2] This lobe is often cited as the part of the brain responsible for the ability to decide between good and bad choices, as well as recognize the consequences of different actions. Because of its location in the anterior part of the head, the frontal lobe is arguably more susceptible to injuries. Following a frontal lobe injury, an individual’s abilities to make good choices and recognize consequences are often impaired. Memory impairment is another common effect associated with frontal lobe injuries, but this effect is less documented and may or may not be the result of flawed testing.^[3] Damage to the frontal lobe can cause increased irritability, which may include a change in mood and an inability to regulate behavior.^[1] Particularly, an injury of the frontal lobe could lead to deficits in executive function, such as anticipation, goal selection, planning, initiation, sequencing, monitoring (detecting errors), and self-correction (initiating novel responses).^[4] A widely reported case of frontal lobe injury was that of Phineas Gage, a railroad worker whose left frontal lobe was damaged by a large iron rod in 1848 (though Gage's subsequent personality changes are almost always grossly exaggerated).

1Neuropsychological effects
2Diagnosis
- 2.1Types of tests

Neuropsychological effects[edit]

Midsagittal cross-section of a human brain. The portion in color is the left frontal lobe, damaged in Phineas Gage's accident.

Memory and attention[edit]

Patients with damaged frontal lobes often complain of minimal to substantial memory loss. Because of this, frontal lobe injuries have long been associated with memory problems, despite little evidence actually showing this relation to be true. In fact, when patients with such injuries are tested using standard memory tests, they often score within normal. Close relatives of these same patients, however, may describe substantial memory problems. The disparity occurs because it is not the memory system itself that is affected, but the functions of the frontal lobe that facilitate working memory.^[3] Working memory is closely involved with the ability to hold attention.^[5] Working memory is not simply how much information you can maintain in a brief period of time; this describes primary memory, and a small part of working memory relates to it. The important part of working memory is secondary memory, in which an individual retrieves information. Those with high working memory are able to perform this retrieval even when distracted by another task. Patients with damaged frontal lobes show lower working memory and, therefore, a lessened ability to retrieve information from their secondary memory.^[6]

Risk taking[edit]

An increase in impulsivity, risk taking or both is often seen in individuals following frontal lobe damage. The two related terms differ in that impulsivity is a response disinhibition, while risk taking is related to the reward-based aspects of decision-making.^[7] Put more simply, an impulsive person will make a decision quickly, without considering the consequences, leading ultimately to a lack of self-control. Contrarily, risk takers will look at the consequences but not weigh them; they will jump at the opportunity of a reward even if the likelihood of receiving that reward is slim. The increase of risk taking amongst damaged frontal lobe patients can be directly observed during gambling, and gambling tasks have been developed to measure such behavior.

Diagnosis[edit]

A screenshot from a computerized version of the Iowa gambling task

A screenshot from a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

In both forms of the saccade test, every eye movement is tracked, even small movements like the ones shown in this animation.

Can Gambling Cause Brain Damage Symptoms

Types of tests[edit]

Before more adv