According to a Neuron journal published brain study under the title “White-Matter Tract Connecting Anterior Insula to Nucleus Accumbens Correlates with Reduced Preference for Positively Skewed Gambles” problem gamblers have a different brain structure than people that are less likely to take financial risks.
The main objective of the research was to reveal why certain people had a drastically stronger attraction to games whose winning odds were small, but offered big prizes.
This study was partly inspired by a previous research that found two brain regions that reflect contrasting sides of risk range. That study showed that the tissue connecting the regions called anterior insula and nucleus accumbens was different; the findings motivated researchers to check whether a link between that particular connection and readiness to involve in risky situations at individuals existed.
For the needs of the study the authors have found volunteers that were given $10 and a possibility to wager them anywhere on the roulette table. All participants prior to placing their wagers were presented with the winning odds of low and high paying bets as well as the risk of those bets. Additionally, the volunteers were allowed to keep their winnings.
Ultimately, the results showed that those who placed bets with low odds of winning had less activity in the anterior insula region, which is supposed to control the willingness to take risks. Furthermore, the researchers noted that the nucleus accumbens region’s influence was weaker in participants whose connecting tissue between the regions was thicker. According to their conclusion, stronger connection between the both allowed the anterior insula to successfully control the nucleus accumbens region.
Even though the researchers had some hesitation when it comes to drawing conclusions, they did suggest that additional study could help in development of methods that could effectively fight problem gambling.