The Functional Anatomy of Impulse Control Disorders

Abstract

Impulsive–compulsive disorders such as pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive eating, and shopping are side effects of the dopaminergic therapy for Parkinson’s disease. With a lower prevalence, these disorders also appear in the general population. Research in the last few years has discovered that these pathological behaviors share features similar to those of substance use disorders (SUD), which has led to the term “behavioral addictions”. As in SUDs, the behaviors are marked by a compulsive drive toward and impaired control over the behavior. Furthermore, animal and medication studies, research in the Parkinson’s disease population, and neuroimaging findings indicate a common neurobiology of addictive behaviors. Changes associated with addictions are mainly seen in the dopaminergic system of a mesocorticolimbic circuit, the so-called reward system. Here we outline neurobiological findings regarding behavioral addictions with a focus on dopaminergic systems, relate them to SUD theories, and try to build a tentative concept integrating genetics, neuroimaging, and behavioral results.

SCRATCH THAT! — Two case reports of scratch-card gambling disorder

“…This reclassification reflects the conceptualization of GD as a non-substance or "behavioral" addiction (Blanco, Moreyra, Nunes, et al, 2001;el-Guebaly, Mudry, Zohar, et al, 2012;Holden, 2001;Potenza, 2006), and support for this notion has come not only from a number of shared clinical, phenomenological and epidemiological features, but also from biochemical, neuroimaging, genetic and treatment studies (for reviews see Ibáñez, Blanco, Castro, et al, 2003;Goudriaan, Oosterlaan, de Beurs, et al, 2004;Grant, Brewer, & Potenza, 2006;Potenza, 2008;van Holst, van den Brink, Veltman, et al, 2010;Probst & van Eimeren, 2013;Zakeri & Potenza, 2012;Goudriaan, Yücel, & van Holst, 2014).…”

Pharmacological insights into impulsive‐compulsive spectrum disorders associated with dopaminergic therapy

“…This focus is warranted, for in each of the clinical uses of the drugs, the major risk factor for developing these disorders is indeed the dopaminergic therapy (Grall‐Bronnec et al., ). The neurobiological underpinnings for the development and maintenance of ICSD are areas of intense scientific study, and the reader is referred to several excellent recent reviews on these topics (Dalley et al., ; American Psychiatric Association, , ; Fineberg et al., ; Potenza, ; Chamberlain et al., ; Grant et al., ; van den Heuvel et al., ). Here we provide an overview of key concepts that are particularly relevant to dopamine agonist therapy.…”

Differences and Similarities Between Bulimia Nervosa, Compulsive Buying and Gambling Disorder

“…The classification of disorders that present with high impulsivity, such as gambling disorder (GD), compulsive buying (CB) and certain subtypes of eating disorders (EDs), such as bulimia nervosa (BN), has been subject to debate for at least the last 20 years (McElroy, Hudson, Pope, Keck, & Aizley, 1992;Monzani, Rijsdijk, Harris, & Mataix-Cols, 2014;Probst & van Eimeren, 2013). Some authors hypothesize that disorders associated with impulse control could be considered as part of an obsessivecompulsive spectrum because of the similarities in clinical characteristics, comorbidity, family history and response to treatment (Berlin & Hollander, 2014;Hollander, 2008).…”