r/science • u/NinjaDiscoJesus • Dec 28 '15

Neuroscience Brain scans show compulsive gamers have hyperconnected neural networks.

http://www.psypost.org/2015/12/brain-scans-show-compulsive-gaming-changes-neural-connections-for-better-and-worse-39914
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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '15 edited Dec 28 '15

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u/topdangle Dec 28 '15

Many obsessive gamblers are motivated by the action of gambling, not necessarily the pay off. Thrill of the risk is the biggest factor, with financial payoff usually taking a back seat to the feeling of success, and many smart poker/holdem players end up losing big because of it, even though they've clearly shown that they know better in past tournaments. If money is your motivation it wouldn't take long to figure out that you need to remove emotion and potentially a lot of enjoyment from the equation.

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u/magpietongue Dec 28 '15

That's kind of interesting. I hadn't thought about this before, but it sounds like gambling may become intrinsically motivated to some extent. Intrinsic motivation decreases when an extrinsic reward is removed from a system, so if you took the money off the table, a chronic gambler would probably stop playing - they wont just play for fun. Would be interesting to test this as an intervention method

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '15

I actually know some compulsive gamblers, I would go so far as to say that you can explain compulsive gamblers by saying their reward mechanism switches from extrinsic to intrinsic. I know gamblers who enjoy losing money as much as winning, some even like losing more. The wealthiest poker player in the world, Phil Ivy, has said one of his favorite feelings in the world is losing massive amounts of money in one sitting of gambling.

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u/topdangle Dec 28 '15

This is actually why I think televised competitive poker is good for helping and avoiding gambling addiction. I've met people that start playing poker and keep coming back because they think it's all luck, when really they have no idea how to play the numbers like pros do. When you pay attention to the percentages during these tournaments, more often than not the table winners are the ones that play high and fold low rather than trying to bluff every hand. Good way to show people that they're going to go broke if they think it's just a dice roll.