This presentation from the 13th Annual Nevada State Conference on Problem Gambling, presented by Tim Fong, MD reviews what is known about the neurobiology of gambling disorder and discusses current science and knowledge of the “gambling brain”.
According to the American Society for Addiction Medicine, “Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors”. DSM 5 recognizes “Gambling Disorder” as the first non-substance addictive disorder to be included as a diagnosis under “Substance Use and Related Disorders”.