Rats to help fight gambling addiction

PEOPLE are not the only ones who enjoy a bet. Rats have been taught to play the odds, in research that could reveal how the brain controls this addictive behaviour.

The risk-taking rodents provide the first animal model for human gambling, and could be used to test drug treatments, scientists said.

A Canadian psychologist, Catharine Winstanley, said that gambling addiction was a devastating condition that affected millions of people worldwide.

The gambling rats were an important development because "the neurobiological basis of gambling is still poorly understood and few treatment options exist," said Professor Winstanley, of the University of British Columbia.

Her international team devised a system which gave the rats four choices for getting some sugar pellets in a 30-minute time limit. The more pellets that were on offer to the rats, the higher the risk, with a greater chance of more frequent and longer periods without being able to get at the tasty food.

The rats became successful gamblers, learning that it was better to choose an option with fewer pellets but fewer penalties.

"Rats are capable of playing the odds. They learn to avoid these risky options to maximise their earnings," said Professor Winstanley, whose study is published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

The rats were then treated with drugs that reduced the levels of two chemicals in the brain - serotonin, which is associated with impulse control, and dopamine, which is associated with pleasure.

In the first case the rats became much worse at playing the odds, and took more risks. In the second case, the gambling rats became better at maximising the number of sugar pellets they ate.
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It would save the government alot of money if the rats experiment is successful. Our Royalties and certain members of the elite UMNO family members would benefit from this.