Using brain imaging, a new study has pinpointed specific areas of the brain that light up when people gamble or gauge risk vs. reward. Researchers say the finding could help in the development of more effective treatments for problem gamblers, as well as other forms of addiction and mental disorders.

University students from southern Alberta were administered a questionnaire to assess their gambling behaviour. Seventy-two percent reported gambling in the past 6 months, with the most common types being lotteries and instant win tickets (44%) and games of skill against other people (34%) Most students who gambled spent very little time and money doing so (median time spent = 1.5 hrs; median amount of money spent = $0). Seven and one-half percent of students were classified as problem or pathological gamblers, a rate significantly higher than in the general Alberta adult population.

• The characteristics that best differentiated problem gamblers from non-problem gamblers were
  • more positive attitudes toward gambling,
  • ethnicity (41% of Asian gamblers were problem gamblers),
  • university major (kinesiology, education, management),
  • superior ability to calculate gambling odds, and
  • older age.

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Internet gambling is increasing drastically with the proliferation of wireless devices like cell phones and PDA’s. Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte says it’s time to update the law. “They use wireless cell phones, they use the Internet itself and other electronic devices. This law makes it clear that it applies to every means of communication and it applies to every from of gambling.”

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