Reward Dependence - Other Research

Other Research

A study of norepinephrine levels in gamblers found high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of the norepinephrine (NE) metabolite 3-methoq-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MI-IPG). This could suggest a relationship between the noradrenergic system and gambling, and gambling could be seen as a reward-dependent behavior, but according to Cloninger’s theory these gamblers should exhibit low levels of NE, not high. Cloninger suggests that had these gamblers been retested after they had refrained from gambling for a determined period, their CSF MHPG levels might have been low. A study of norepinephrine levels in alcoholics with high reward dependence also showed a significant decrease of MHPG in their CSF. This finding demonstrates a significant relationship between reward dependence and norepinephrine.

Several genes have also been found to express the RD temperament dimension. Specifically, the gene MAOA-uVNTR has been highly implicated in evoking the RD personality trait.

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