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  • Kathrin Weidacker
    Swansea UniversityUniversity of Cambridge
  • Stephen J. Johnston
    Swansea University
  • Paul G. Mullins
  • Fred Boy
    Swansea University
  • Simon Dymond
    Swansea University
Discounting larger, delayed rewards for smaller, immediate rewards is a stable psychological trait known to be impaired in gambling disorder (GD). Neuroimaging with non-GD populations indicates involvement of anterior cingulate (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in delay discounting. However, little is known about the role of intrinsic properties of brain functioning, such as neurotransmitter action, in impaired discounting in GD. Here, we used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to assess glutamate-glutamine (Glx) and γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA+) concentrations in the dorsal ACC (dACC), dlPFC and occipital cortex of human males with and without GD. Gambling symptom severity correlated negatively with Glx levels in the dACC and occipital voxels. Discounting of small and medium delayed rewards was negatively associated with GABA+ in the dACC, while the discounting of large delayed rewards was negatively associated with GABA+/Glx ratios in the dlPFC. Additionally, in GD, discounting of large delayed rewards was negatively correlated with occipital GABA+ levels. Overall, these findings show that high gambling symptom severity is associated with low levels of Glx and that dACC (GABA+), right dlPFC (GABA+/Glx), and occipital areas (GABA+) track the magnitude of delayed rewards during discounting.

Keywords

  • Gambling disorder, y-amino-butyric acid, Glutamate-glutamine, Delay discounting, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)36-46
JournalEuropean Neuropsychopharmacology
Volume32
Early online date31 Dec 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2020

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