Searching for Replicable Dopamine-Related Findings in Gambling Disorder

van Holst et  al. (1) used [18F]flouro-levo-diphenylalanine ([18F]DOPA) positron emission tomography (PET) to study individuals with and without pathological gambling (PG). They report that the PG group, as compared with the healthy control (HC) group, demonstrated higher dopamine synthesis capacity in three st riatal regions (the caudate body, dorsal putamen, and ventral striatum) and that dopamine synthesis capacity in two striatal regions (the caudate head and dorsal putamen) correlated with gambling-related distortions in the PG group.

Source: Biological Psychiatry - May 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Marc N. Potenza Tags: Commentary Source Type: research