Increased ventral anterior insular connectivity to sports betting availability indexes problem gambling
Details
Serval ID
serval:BIB_A44C3913109E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Increased ventral anterior insular connectivity to sports betting availability indexes problem gambling
Journal
Addiction Biology
ISSN
1355-6215
1369-1600
1369-1600
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2024
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
29
Number
3
Pages
e13389
Language
english
Abstract
With the advent of digital technologies, online sports betting is spurring a fast-growing expansion. In this study, we examined how sports betting availability modulates the brain connectivity of frequent sports bettors with [problem bettors (PB)] or without [non-problem bettors (NPB)] problematic sports betting. We conducted functional connectivity analyses centred on the ventral anterior insular cortex (vAI), a brain region playing a key role in the dynamic interplay between reward-based processes. We re-analysed a dataset on sports betting availability undertaken in PB (n = 30) and NPB (n = 35). Across all participants, we observed that sports betting availability elicited positive vAI coupling with extended clusters of brain activation (encompassing the putamen, cerebellum, occipital, temporal, precentral and central operculum regions) and negative vAI coupling with the orbitofrontal cortex. Between-group analyses showed increased positive vAI coupling in the PB group, as compared with the NPB group, in the left lateral occipital cortex, extending to the left inferior frontal gyrus, the anterior cingulate gyrus and the right frontal pole. Taken together, these results are in line with the central assumptions of triadic models of addictions, which posit that the insular cortex plays a pivotal role in promoting the drive and motivation to get a reward by ‘hijacking’ goal-oriented processes toward addiction-related cues. Taken together, these findings showed that vAI functional connectivity is sensitive not only to gambling availability but also to the status of problematic sport betting.
Keywords
brain connectivity, fmri, insular cortex, problem gambling, reward availability, sports betting
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
23/03/2024 17:00
Last modification date
11/04/2024 6:09