http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ame-players-brains-like-gambling-addicts.html Teenagers who spend hours playing video games may have a similar brain structure to gambling addicts, research suggests. In a study of 14-year-olds, those who played frequently had a larger reward centre in their brains than those who played less often. Brain scans showed those who played for more than nine hours a week produced more of the feel-good chemical dopamine. Feel-good: Playing video games produces pleasure chemicals similar to the buzz addicts get from gambling Feel-good: Playing video games produces pleasure chemicals similar to the buzz addicts get from gambling They produced even more when they were losing, an effect seen in pathological gamblers which is thought to be what prevents them from stopping when they are on a losing streak. Playing video games was also shown to reduce decision time a key skill for being good at them which is also a characteristic of gamblers. More... Animal rights activists blast star for wearing fur - but it's Super Mario (and the fur's virtual, too) Atari app brings back the video arcade classics for Android market The researchers do not know whether gaming causes the brain to change, or whether people are born with this brain structure which makes them want to spend hours playing. But they say it is a crucial first step in understanding whether video games could be addictive. This study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, is the first to connect frequent video gaming with differences in both brain structure and activity. Dr Simon Kuhn of Ghent University in Belgium and colleagues in the UK and Germany analysed brain scans of more than 150 teenagers who were classified as playing video games either moderately or a lot. Those who played a lot had a larger ventral striatum, the reward area which is activated when we experience pleasure, for example by winning money, eating chocolate or having sex. Compulsive: Brain scans showed that teenagers produced more 'feel-good' chemicals when they were losing, an effect seen in pathological gamblers Compulsive: Brain scans showed that teenagers produced more 'feel-good' chemicals when they were losing, an effect seen in pathological gamblers The researchers wrote: These findings demonstrate that the ventral striatum plays a significant role in excessive video-game playing and contributes to our understanding of behavioural addiction. Video-gaming has become hugely popular in recent years. The average teenager in the study, which was carried out in Germany, played for one and a half hours a day during the week and 2.3 hours at the weekend. Whether excessive video-gaming should be classified as an addiction or even a mental illness is a matter of intense debate among experts, with increasing consensus that gambling can be as addictive as illegal drugs. Dr Luke Clark, who researches gambling at Cambridge University, said: The ventral striatum is at the heart of the reward system and that puts video gaming into the context of addictions. We know the brain can change in adulthood, but the burning question is whether the video gaming is the cause or the effect, and that still needs to be answered. He added that despite claims that video games can have a positive effect on motor skills, there appeared to be no change in these areas of the brain in the frequent gamers. Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a neuroscientist at Imperial College London, said the study would further close the gap between compulsive video gaming and other addictions to give us a better understanding of possible long-term treatment interventions'. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ains-like-gambling-addicts.html#ixzz21CjBYDdh
I think having an addictive personality is what makes someone more likely to be addicted to other things. They found the same link between alcoholics and gamblers.
Video game addiction was shown to be related to gambling addiction. This is indeed true.. It's related for the exact reason the article suggests, that dopamine is released for people that like to play video games. It's also released for people who like to gamble. The observation however is far from profound, because dopamine comes out for like loads upon loads of reasons, not just video games and gambling.. It comes out when you do something you like and enjoy, and even for other reasons as its responsible for many functions besides the feel good reward function, it also is released for things done that aid in survival, a reward system to encourage surviving. It can come out for sex, eating food you like, drinking water, exercize, fight or flight responses, drugs, booze, snowboarding, TV, making origami sculptures, petting your cat, fixing your car, planking etc. etc. the list goes on ad-infinitum. So why they isolated two out of how ever many zillions of reasons it can be released is not at all clear. They could have just as easily said, video game addictions related to mountain climbing, or video game addictions related to horseback riding, or video game addiction related to looking through a telescope or whatever. The only idea I can think of is why is that maybe there's ulterior motives involved, trying to associate these two things and imply a correlation that's not any more different than the above mentioned. Maybe to encourage parents to get their kids to stop playing video games for fear they'll grow up a gambling addict. Who knows. From the second article: "But they say it is a crucial first step in understanding whether video games could be addictive." Notwithstanding the fact your first article assumed this true as the premise of their study (read your headline)... Of course they can be addictive.. Anything you find fun can be addictive. They'd as might as well try to take the "first step" to understanding whether or not the sun is hot.
Ugh, I always hate these types of articles. Things like drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are addictive because they contain chemical compounds that can physically cause the body to develop a dependency toward them. Things like video games and even gambling are not addictive, as there is nothing about them which could possible cause the body to become dependent. Now, that said, I fully understand that certain activities (such as games or gambling) can have a positive neurochemical effect within people to the point where it seems as though they are "addicted" to that activity. But unlike drugs/alcohol/etc, it is not the activity itself that is causing the addiction, but rather the association of that activity to the chemicals released within the brain while engaged in said activity. Pavlov's dogs, if you will. As such, I suppose it would be fair to say that certain people may be or may become addicted to activities such as gambling or video games, but it would be a misnomer and completely incorrect to say that those activities in and of themselves are addictive.
yep, some people just have an addictive personality, that has been know for a long time, we even have workaholics
wish I could be afflicted with that disease In my opinion its just will power, some people choose to be weaker than others. I have known plenty of addicts for various drugs, never going to get me to believe that it isn't their choice to continue their addiction. It just a harder choice to make for some.
This makes no sense at all.. "addictive" means capable of causing addiction. So if you acknowledge people can become addicted to something, then you acknowledge that this thing can be "addictive". Unless you want to specify some other definition for "addictive" that doesn't apply to all things that many people become hopelessely addicted to. If somebody finds doing a particular thing fun, then they can become hooked on it, and this thing can be very addictive to them, because they like to continue to have fun. The concept is no more difficult than this and it is a solid fact yet really this simple.
Yep, this is what it really comes down to. Lots of people are naturally inclined to be "addicted" to something, and they'll even replace one addiction with another if they do manage to get away from the first one. Thus, any treatment for any particular kind of addiction is only going after a symptom rather than the cause.
Apparently you either did not read or understand the rest of my post, as I explained the difference quite clearly. There is a very distinct logical difference between someone being addicted to some thing due to an external factor, and said thing actually being addictive in and of itself.
Hm, yep, mostly true. Some things, such as nicotine, can create a chemical dependency in the human brain. Other things, such as alcohol, merely affect the brain in such a way that a person may develop a dependency upon it, though not because the substance itself creates a chemical dependency. It happens rather that some people become addicted to certain activities and feelings, hence even sex and video games being "addicting" to some.
Again, you need to specify a definition. Where do you get "in and of itself" and not externally caused as a criteria for being addictive? I'll await the definition but it looks like your main premise fails you. You said: "Things like video games and even gambling are not addictive, as there is nothing about them which could possible cause the body to become dependent." How is the built in drive and artificial necessirty for leveling up, powering up or improving score in a video game, or the flashing lights designed specifically for producing a trance like state at the slot machines, not intrinsic characteristics of those things? Physical addictions like you get with crack have a different physical mechanism, true, but why are psychological characteristics not applicable? Also, how does the physical release of endorphines you can get by playing games not count as a physical process? These are actual real life physical chemicals in your brain.
