Validation of novel fMRI paradigms in gambling disorder
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Validation of the novel Reward-Enriched Roulette and 6-Armed Cue Reactivity tasks for multi-modality brain imaging in gambling disorder
IRAS ID
264464
Contact name
David Erritzoe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 26 days
Research summary
Brain imaging studies have shown inconsistent activation of the reward system during monetary reward processing in gambling disorder patients (GDs) and the differences between the processing of gambling-related and non-gambling-related stimuli, such as social, nature and art have not been specifically investigated in GDs. Studying the brain activity associated with these processes will advance our understanding of the pathophysiology and the findings could potentially be utilized for gambling disorder assessment and treatment evaluation.
This will be an fMRI imaging study in GDs and age-gender-matched healthy volunteers aged 20 to 65 years. GDs will be identified and recruited from the waiting list of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and associated services. All participants will each undergo a screening session and an MRI scanning session that includes structural and functional task and resting-state MRI scans. The reward-enriched roulette task (RER) aims at probing into the brain reward circuitry with a computer-simulated roulette wheel game and the 6-Armed Cue Reactivity task (6-ACR) intends to examine the differences in reward and salience systems activation in response to gambling, social, food, art, nature and neutral video cues. All screening procedures and assessments will take place in the NIHR Imperial Clinical Research Facility and MRI brain imaging will be acquired in Invicro imaging centre, both located at the Hammersmith Hospital campus in London.
The two novel fMRI paradigms will be validated and the association between brain activity and clinical variables including gambling severity, personality traits, loneliness scale and social network indices will also be explored. These tasks are planned to be implemented in future simultaneous PET/MR multimodal brain imaging studies to further investigate the brain activation and the release of neurotransmitters at the same time in GDs.
Lay Summary of Results:
The present study found the hypothesised differential neural response to gambling versus natural cues in GDs vs HCs in both video cue reactivity and the reward enriched roulette task demonstrating GD specific neural adaptations. The results suggest neural hypersensitivity to gambling-related stimuli may be occurring in GDs, which lends support to the incentive salience theory (IST) of addiction. Further, the present study revealed along with other core reward-related regions a significant role of the insula in GD neuropathology. This finding confirms the key role of the insula in GDs’ responses to gambling-related stimuli and warrants a more granular investigation into its role as a modulator of the cognitive and environmental processing and associated behaviours observed in GDs. Indeed, the insula could also be a valid and valuable target for the development of novel and effective therapeutics in GD.
Has the registry been updated to include summary results?: No
If yes - please enter the URL to summary results:
If no – why not?: We have not written up the paper yet and submitted it for publication, we are still in process of doing this
Did you follow your dissemination plan submitted in the IRAS application form (Q A51)?: Pending
If yes, describe or provide URLs to disseminated materials:
If pending, date when dissemination is expected: 17/04/2026
If no, explain why you didn't follow it:
Have participants been informed of the results of the study?: Pending
If yes, describe and/or provide URLs to materials shared and how they were shared:
If pending, date when feedback is expected: 14/04/2026
If no, explain why they haven't:
Have you enabled sharing of study data with others?: No
If yes, describe or provide URLs to how it has been shared:
If no, explain why sharing hasn't been enabled: We are still writing up the data and intend to allow access for other individuals following publication being guided by Imperials IPC team for oversight
Have you enabled sharing of tissue samples and associated data with others?: No
If yes, describe or provide a URL:
If no, explain why: We do not have tissue samples
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London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0387
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jun 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion