Money More Important Than Sex for Dutch Problem Gamblers
Money vs sex
University Says Winning is Better than Sex for Problem Gamblers
A rather interesting study has been performed on mobile casino enthusiasts at the Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands, the findings of which may prove rather interesting. Problem gamblers and control subjects were both placed in an MRI machine and asked to press buttons to win either cash or see pictures of scantily clad women.
Unsurprisingly, those who preferred mobile slots to literotica pressed the money button 4% faster than the women button, which the scientists took to mean they were hardwired to be predisposed to gambling addiction.
Perhaps they could replicate this same trial on an iPhone casino. That could be an interesting development, but there was another interesting development – unrelated, we may add – at another university across the Atlantic.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia built a rat slot arcade that allowed the furry little test subjects to cash out their winnings of sugary treats when they matched up 3 symbols on the machines. When they only matched 2 symbols, the rats still pressed the cash out lever, much in the same way problem gamblers have been known to do.
After giving the rats drugs to suppress their pleasure receptors, the rats became less likely to ask for a cash out when they hadn’t won. This could open the way for treating gambling addiction in a similar way to drug addiction in the future.
