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Personality Traits and Cortical Activity Affect Gambling Behavior in Parkinson's Disease
Michela Balconi1,2, Chiara Siri3, Nicoletta Meucci3
1Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.
Background:
Pathological gambling (PG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) manifests as a persistent and uncontrollable gambling behavior, characterized by dysfunctional decision-making and emotional impairment related to high-risk decisions.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between personality traits and prefrontal cortex activity in PD patients with or without PG.
Methods:
Thus, hemodynamic cortical activity measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance were recorded in forty-six PD patients, divided into three groups according to their gambling status: PD patients with active gambling behavior (PDG); PD patients who remitted from PG (PDNG); and a control group (CG) composed by patients with PD only.
Results:
Results indicates that gambling behavior in PD patients is strongly predictive of dysfunctional cognitive strategy; affecting anomalous cortical response with a left hemispheric unbalance in dorsal areas; and it is related to more reward sensitivity than impulsivity personality components.
Conclusions:
PDG patients differed from PDNG and CG from both behavioral and brain response to decision-making. Overall, these effects confirm a pathological condition related to cognitive and emotional aspects which makes the patients with PGD victims of their dysfunctional behavior.