An Animal Model of Slot Machine Gambling: The Effect of Structural Characteristics on Response Latency and Persistence

Peters, Heather L.; Hunt, Maree; Harper, David N.

doi:10.1007/s10899-010-9183-3

Cited by 41 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…43 Additionally, paradigms modelled after slot machines have also been established. 44,45 These tests are useful for understanding the neurobiological basis of gambling-like behaviour. In contrast, the findings presented here demonstrated a novel model of gambling disorder itself.…”

Section: Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty exposure causes behavioural sensitization and increases risky decision-making in male rats: toward modelling gambling disorder

Zeeb

Fisher

et al. 2017

JPN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty exposure causes behavioural sensitization and increases risky decision-making in male rats: toward modelling gambling disorder

Zeeb

Fisher

et al. 2017

JPN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The length of PRPs has been linked to hedonically pleasurable (long PRPs) and frustrating outcomes in rats (short PRPs), which could also play a role in the present effects (Peters et al 2010). Even though rewards for all groups were the same and should therefore have had similar pleasurable outcomes for each individual, lesioned animals seemed to spend little time after receiving the food pellets, namely as much as it supposedly took them to eat all 4 food pellets, before starting the next run.…”

Section: Srttmentioning

confidence: 99%

Procedural Performance Benefits after Excitotoxic Hippocampal Lesions in the Rat Sequential Reaction Time Task

Busse

Schwarting

2015

Neurotox Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is widely agreed upon that hippocampal function is linked to episodic-like and spatial memory across various species, for example, rodents. However, the interplay between hippocampal function and other types of learning and memory, like procedural stimulus-response or sequential learning, is less clear. Recently (Eckart et al. in Hippocampus 22:1202-1214, 2012), we showed that excitotoxic hippocampal lesions, which mainly affected its dorsal part, led not only to the expected deficits in a spatial and episodic-like memory task, namely the object place recognition test, but also to substantial improvements in terms of speed and accuracy in a rat adaption of the human sequential reaction time task (SRTT). The design of that experiment, however, which included fixed test durations per training day, led to the fact that lesioned animals gained more instrumental experience, which may partly have accounted for their enhanced performance. In order to rule out such a potential confound, we performed the present experiment on rats with similar ibotenic lesions aiming at the dorsal hippocampus, but we now kept the amount of correct instrumental responses and reinforcements on the same level as in controls. Our data revealed that lesioned animals were still able to complete the SRTT in a substantially smaller amount of time, when compared to control and sham-operated animals, although no differences were observable in terms of speed or accuracy. Also, the animals with lesions showed impaired extinction in a subsequent test where rewards were omitted. The former effect can primarily be attributed to shorter post-reinforcement pauses in the lesioned animals, and the possible mechanisms of this and the extinction effect will be addressed in the discussion.

show abstract

“…The current paradigm is similar to a previous attempt to model slot machine play in rats (Peters et al, 2010), in that animals were required to choose between a collect lever and 'spin' or 'roll' lever depending on a light pattern. However, in the report by Peters et al (2010), the previous hole had to be illuminated in order for the subsequent light to be turned on.…”

Section: Behavioral Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The observation that slot machine play is often the most common gambling activity in pathological gamblers has lead to the suggestion that slot machine gambling may be particularly compulsive (Breen and Zimmerman, 2002;Choliz, 2010). Given that animal research has significantly advanced our understanding of goal-directed behavior and addiction, an animal model of slot machine play may make a valuable contribution to gambling research (Potenza, 2009), and a preliminary report indicates that rats are capable of learning such a task (Peters et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dopamine Modulates Reward Expectancy During Performance of a Slot Machine Task in Rats: Evidence for a ‘Near-miss’ Effect

Winstanley

Cocker

Rogers

2011

Neuropsychopharmacol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognitive accounts of gambling suggest that the experience of almost winning-so-called 'near-misses'-encourage continued play and accelerate the development of pathological gambling (PG) in vulnerable individuals. One explanation for this effect is that near-misses signal imminent winning outcomes and heighten reward expectancy, galvanizing further play. Determining the neurochemical processes underlying the drive to gamble could facilitate the development of more effective treatments for PG. With this aim in mind, we evaluated rats' performance on a novel model of slot machine play, a form of gambling in which near-miss events are particularly salient. Subjects responded to a series of three flashing lights, loosely analogous to the wheels of a slot machine, causing the lights to set to 'on' or 'off'. A winning outcome was signaled if all three lights were illuminated. At the end of each trial, rats chose between responding on the 'collect' lever, resulting in reward on win trials, but a time penalty on loss trials, or starting a new trial. Rats showed a marked preference for the collect lever when both two and three lights were illuminated, indicating heightened reward expectancy following near-misses similar to wins. Erroneous collect responses were increased by amphetamine and the D(2) receptor agonist quinpirole, but not by the D(1) receptor agonist SKF 81297 or receptor subtype selective antagonists. These data suggest that dopamine modulates reward expectancy following the experience of almost winning during slot machine play, via activity at D(2) receptors, and this may result in an enhancement of the near-miss effect and facilitate further gambling.

show abstract

An Animal Model of Slot Machine Gambling: The Effect of Structural Characteristics on Response Latency and Persistence

Cited by 41 publications

References 16 publications

Uncertainty exposure causes behavioural sensitization and increases risky decision-making in male rats: toward modelling gambling disorder

Uncertainty exposure causes behavioural sensitization and increases risky decision-making in male rats: toward modelling gambling disorder

Procedural Performance Benefits after Excitotoxic Hippocampal Lesions in the Rat Sequential Reaction Time Task

Dopamine Modulates Reward Expectancy During Performance of a Slot Machine Task in Rats: Evidence for a ‘Near-miss’ Effect

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About