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Serotonergic and dopaminergic control of impulsivity in gambling disorder.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Honkanen, Emma A 
Lindholm, Kari 
Jaakkola, Elina 
Majuri, Joonas 

Abstract

Gambling disorder (GD) is major public health issue. The disorder is often characterized by elevated impulsivity with evidence from analogous substance use disorders underlining prominent roles of brain monoamines in addiction susceptibility and outcome. Critically, GD allows the study of addiction mechanisms without the confounder of the effects of chronic substances. Here, we assessed the roles of striatal dopamine transporter binding and extrastriatal serotonin transporter binding in GD as a function of impulsivity using [123 I]FP-CIT SPECT imaging in 20 older adults with GD (DSM-5 criteria; mean age 64 years) and 40 non-GD age- and sex-matched controls. We focused on GD in older individuals because there are prominent age-related changes in neurotransmitter function and because there are no reported neuroimaging studies of GD in older adults. Volume-of-interest-based and voxelwise analyses were performed. GD patients scored clearly higher on impulsivity and had higher tracer binding in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex than controls (p < 0.001), likely reflecting serotonin transporter activity. The binding in the medial prefrontal cortex positively correlated with impulsivity over the whole sample (r = 0.62, p < 0.001) as well as separately in GD patients (r = 0.46, p = 0.04) and controls (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). Striatal tracer binding, reflecting dopamine transporter activity was also positively correlated with impulsivity but showed no group differences. These findings highlight the role of prefrontal serotonergic function in GD and impulsivity. They identify cerebral coordinates of a potential target for neuromodulation for both GD and high impulsivity, a core phenotypic dimensional cognitive marker in addictions.

Description

Funder: Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100016238


Funder: Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004212


Funder: Finnish Cultural Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003125


Funder: Turku University Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100022793


Funder: Michael J. Fox Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000864


Funder: Finnish Parkinson Foundation


Funder: Province of British Columbia


Funder: British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)


Funder: National Association for Gambling Studies


Funder: National Center for Responsible Gaming; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100003977


Funder: GambleAware; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100008625


Funder: Gambling Research Exchange Ontario; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007553


Funder: Finnish Medical Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100008723


Funder: Instrumentarium Research Foundation

Keywords

SPECT, gambling disorder, impulsivity, Humans, Aged, Middle Aged, Gambling, Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins, Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins, Impulsive Behavior, Prefrontal Cortex, Dopamine

Journal Title

Addict Biol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1355-6215
1369-1600

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/P008747/1)