Pathological Gambling (PG) is an impulse control disorder with lifetime prevalence of 1-3%. Available treatments are limited by uncertain classification and complexity of implicated neurotransmitter systems. Dopamine (DA), a key neurotransmitter implicated in addictive behavior and reward is elevated in response to gambling and psychostimulants. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that the D2 blocker, haloperidol (HAL), will enhance slot machine reinforcement in PG but not in Healthy Controls (HC). If this increase reflects preferential stimulation of D1 receptors and group differences in D1 sensitivity, D1-D2 blocker (fluphenazine, FLU) should offset increase in reinforcement seen with HAL in PG subjects. In line with DA's implicated role in 'wanting' vs. 'liking' of the addictive reinforcer, the results suggest that DA release mediated partial D1 activation under FLU led to clear differentiation between groups with increased 'wanting' seen in controls but not in gamblers. DA's role in 'liking' however remains elusive.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/31270 |
| Date | 12 December 2011 |
| Creators | Kalia, Aditi |
| Contributors | Zack, Martin |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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