Psychiatria pre prax 1/2013

Towards clearer neurobiology of pathological gambling

Pathological gambling (PG) is a mental disorder manifested by frequent and repetitive episodes of gambling, ruining life of the individual. In our czecho-slovak environment arise works focused mainly on clinical characteristics and psychotherapy of pathological gambling. The aim of this paper is to give an integrated review of the neurobiological basis of this disorder in a concise form and also to collect neurobiological arguments for the reclassification of pathological gambling to addictive disorders.

Keywords: pathological gambling, neurobiology, reward system, reward deficiency syndrome, dopamine, serotonin.