Principal Investigator: Martin Zack, Ph.D., Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Awarded $75,042 in 2000

Aim: Explore the role played by neurochemical activation in the development of gambling addiction.

Zack, M. & Poulos, C.X. (2004). Amphetamine primes motivation to gamble and gambling-related semantic networks in problem gamblers. Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, 195-207.

Principal Investigator: Marc N. Potenza, MD, Ph.D., Yale School of Medicine
Awarded $172,500 in 2000

Aim: Test the short-term tolerability and efficacy of the antidepressant citalopram, naltrexone (a drug used to blunt cravings for alcohol) and a citalopram/naltrexone combination pharmacotherapy in the treatment of dually diagnosed patients with pathological gambling and alcohol abuse or dependence.

Potenza, M.N. (2001). The neurobiology of pathological gambling. Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 6, 217-226.

Potenza, M.N. (2001). Pathological gambling: A present problem from the past. Psychiatric Times (online exclusive).

Potenza, M.N. (2002). A perspective on future directions in the prevention, treatment, and research of pathological gambling. Psychiatric Annals, 32, 203-207.

Potenza, M.N. (2003). Pathological gambling and impulse control disorders. In J. Soares & S. Gershon (Eds.), Medical Handbook of Psychiatry, pp. 683-700.

Potenza, M. N. (2005). Advancing Treatment Strategies for Pathological Gambling.
Journal of Gambling Studies, 21(1), 91-98.

Potenza, M.N. & Charney, D.S. (2001). Pathological gambling: A current perspective. Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 6, 153-154.

Potenza, M.N., Fiellin, D. A., Heninger, G.R., Rounsaville, B.J., & Mazure, C.M. (2002). Gambling: An addictive behavior with health and primary care implications. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 17, 721-32.

Potenza, M.N. & Hollander, E. (2002). Pathological gambling and impulse control disorders. In C. Nemeroff, J. Coyle, D. Charney, & K. Davis (Eds.), Neuropsychopharmacology: The 5th Generation of Progress. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkens.

Potenza, M.N., Kosten, T.R., & Rounsaville, B.J. (2001). Pathological gambling. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286, 141-144.

Potenza, M.N., Leung, H.C., Blumberg, H.P., Peterson, B.S., Fulbright, R.K., Lacadie, C.M., et al. (2003). An fMRI Stroop study of ventromedial prefrontal cortical function in pathological gamblers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1990-1994.

Potenza, M.N., Steinberg, M.A., Skudlarski, P., Fulbright, R.K., Lacadie, C.M., Wilber, M.K., et al. (2003). An fMRI study of gambling urges in pathological gamblers. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(8), 828-836.

Potenza, M.N. & Wilber, M.K. (2001). Neuroimaging studies of pathological gambling and substance dependence. Psychiatric Times, 18(10): 58-64.

Potenza, M.N. & Winters, K.C. (2003). The neurobiology of pathological gambling: Translating research findings into clinical advances. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 7-10.

Chambers R. A., & Potenza, M.N., (2003). Impulse control disorders. In M.J. Aminoff & R.B. Daroff (Eds.), Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences (Vol. 2). San Diego, CA:  Academic Press.

Chambers, R. A. & Potenza, M.N., (2003). Neurodevelopment, impulsivity and adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 53-84.

Chambers, R. A., Taylor, J.R. & Potenza, M.N. (2003). Developmental neurocircuitry of motivation in adolescence: A critical period of addiction vulnerability. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1041-1052.

Grant, J.E., Kim, S.W., & Potenza, M.N. (2003). Advances in the pharmacological treatment of pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 19, 85-109.

Grant, J. E., Kim, S.W., Potenza, M.N., Blanco, C., Ibanez, A., Stevens, L., et al. (2003). Paroxetine treatment of pathological gambling: A multi-centre randomized controlled trial. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 18, 243-249.

Grant, J.E., & Potenza, M.N. (Eds). (2004). Pathological gambling: A clinical guide to treatment. Washington, DC:  American Psychiatric Press, Inc.

Shah, K.R., Eisen, S.A., Xian, H., Potenza, M.N. (2005). Genetic studies of pathological gambling: A review of methodology and analyses of data from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry. Journal of Gambling Studies, 21(2), 179-203.

Principal Investigator: Donald W. Black, MD, University of Iowa
Awarded $169,929 in 2000

Aim: Understand the role that family history of gambling disorder plays in the development of pathological gambling. The investigator received a major grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2005 to continue the research.

Black, D.W., & Monahan, P.O., Temkit, M., & Shaw, M. (2006). A family study of pathological gambling. Psychiatry Research, 141(3), 295-303.

Black, D.W., Moyer, T., & Schlosser, S. (2003). Quality of life and family history in pathological gambling. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 191, 124-126.

Shaw, M.C., Forbush, K.T., Schlinder, J., Rosenman, E., & Black, D.W. (2007). The effect of pathological gambling on families, marriages, and children. CNS Spectrum, 12(8), 615-622.