Principal Investigator: Marc N. Potenza, M.D., Ph.D.
Award: $402,500 in 2013; supplementary funding of $135,000 awarded in 2016

The Yale Center of Excellence in Gambling Research II, is continuing the work launched in the first center of excellence grant to understand gambling behaviors and disorder through the application of interdisciplinary research integrating epidemiological, public health, clinical, treatment, prevention, genetic, behavioral and neuroimaging approaches. The project is focused on specific groups differing in age (youth and adults), racial/ethnic backgrounds, and co-occurring medical, neurological and psychiatric disorders. As with the first center grant, this project is employing a multi-disciplinary, interactive approach that takes advantage of various resources at Yale, including existing training programs and imaging and genetics facilities, collaborations with internal and external investigators, partnerships with regional and national advocacy, prevention and treatment agencies, and utilization of publicly accessible data. The Center continues to emphasize the training of early career investigators in the field of gambling research, and the communication of research findings to diverse audiences through multiple formats (journal publications, oral presentations, posters, community events, and internet materials such as webinars, you-tube videos and a newly revised website).

Funded Studies

Balogh, K. N., Mayes, L. C., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Risk-taking and decision-making in youth: Relationships to addiction vulnerability. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(1), 1-9.

Barry, D. T., Pilver, C. E., Hoff, R. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Pain interference, gambling problem severity, and psychiatric disorders among a nationally representative sample of adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(3), 138-144.

Bullock, S. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Update on the pharmacological treatment of pathological gambling. Current Psychopharmacology, 2(3), 204.

Dong, G., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). A cognitive-behavioral model of Internet gaming disorder: theoretical underpinnings and clinical implications. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 58, 7-11.

Fineberg, N. A., Chamberlain, S. R., Goudriaan, A. E., Stein, D. J., Vanderschuren, L. J., Gillan, C. M., & Denys, D. (2014). New developments in human neurocognition: clinical, genetic, and brain imaging correlates of impulsivity and compulsivity. CNS Spectrums, 19(01), 69-89.

Kong, G., Tsai, J., Pilver, C. E., Tan, H. S., Hoff, R. A., Cavallo, D. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Differences in gambling problem severity and gambling and health/functioning characteristics among Asian-American and Caucasian high-school students. Psychiatry Research, 210(3), 1071-1078.

Leeman, R. F., Hoff, R. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Patock-Peckham, J. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Impulsivity, sensation-seeking, and part-time job status in relation to substance use and gambling in adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54(4), 460-466.

Leeman, R. F., Patock-Peckham, J. A., Hoff, R. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L. J., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Perceived parental permissiveness toward gambling and risky behaviors in adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 3(2), 115-123.

Mitchell, M. R., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Recent insights into the neurobiology of impulsivity. Current Addiction Reports, 1(4), 309-319.

Pilver, C. E., Libby, D. J., Hoff, R. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Problem gambling severity and the incidence of Axis I psychopathology among older adults in the general population. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(4), 534-541.

Pilver, C. E., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Increased incidence of cardiovascular conditions among older adults with pathological gambling features in a prospective study. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 7(6).

Pilver, C. E., Libby, D. J., Hoff, R. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Gender differences in the relationship between gambling problems and the incidence of substance-use disorders in a nationally representative population sample. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 133(1), 204-211.

Potenza, M. N. (2013). Biological contributions to addictions in adolescents and adults: Prevention, treatment, and policy implications. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(2), S22-S32.

Potenza, M. N. (2013). Neurobiology of gambling behaviors. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23(4), 660-667.

Potenza, M. N. (2014). Biased behaviors: towards understanding vulnerability and resilience factors in addictions. Biological Psychiatry, 75(2), 94.

Potenza, M. N. (2014). Non-substance addictive behaviors in the context of DSM-5. Addictive Behaviors, 39(1).

Potenza, M. N. (2014). The neural bases of cognitive processes in gambling disorder. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(8), 429-438.

Potenza, M. N., Walderhaug, E., Henry, S., Gallezot, J. D., Planeta-Wilson, B., Ropchan, J., & Neumeister, A. (2013). Serotonin 1B receptor imaging in pathological gambling. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 14(2), 139-145.

Potenza, M. N., Balodis, I. M., Franco, C. A., Bullock, S., Xu, J., Chung, T., & Grant, J. E. (2013). Neurobiological considerations in understanding behavioral treatments for pathological gambling. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(2), 380.

Rahman, A. S., Xu, J., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Hippocampal and amygdalar volumetric differences in pathological gambling: a preliminary study of the associations with the behavioral inhibition system. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(3), 738-745.

Rahman, A. S., Balodis, I. M., Pilver, C. E., Leeman, R. F., Hoff, R. A., Steinberg, M. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Adolescent alcohol-drinking frequency and problem-gambling severity: Adolescent perceptions regarding problem-gambling prevention and parental/adult behaviors and attitudes. Substance Abuse, 35(4), 426-434.

Slavin, M., Pilver, C. E., Hoff, R. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Serious physical fighting and gambling-related attitudes and behaviors in adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(3), 167-178.

Xian, H., Giddens, J. L., Scherrer, J. F., Eisen, S. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Environmental factors selectively impact co‐occurrence of problem/pathological gambling with specific drug‐use disorders in male twins. Addiction, 109(4), 635-644.

Worhunsky, P. D., Malison, R. T., Rogers, R. D., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Altered neural correlates of reward and loss processing during simulated slot-machine fMRI in pathological gambling and cocaine dependence. Drug and alcohol dependence, 145, 77-86.

Yau, Y. H., Pilver, C. E., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L. J., Hoff, R. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). Relationships between problematic internet use and problem-gambling severity: findings from a high-school survey. Addictive Behaviors, 39(1), 13-21.

Yau, Y. H., & Potenza, M. N. (2015). Gambling disorder and other behavioral addictions: Recognition and treatment. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23(2), 134-146.

Yip, S. W., Lacadie, C., Xu, J., Worhunsky, P. D., Fulbright, R. K., Constable, R. T., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Reduced genual corpus callosal white matter integrity in pathological gambling and its relationship to alcohol abuse or dependence. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 14(2), 129-138.