Principal Investigator: Marc N. Potenza, M.D., Ph.D.
Award: $402,500 in 2009

“The Yale Gambling CORE (Center Of Research Excellence)” is building upon existing collaborations and interdisciplinary of the PI and his research team, including the Women’s Health Research at Yale, the VA VISN 1 MIRECC (focusing on co-occurring disorders), Yale Child Study Center, Yale Center for Translational Neuroscience in Alcoholism, Yale Psychotherapy Development Center, and multiple training programs. Collaborations outside of Yale will include the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Problem Gambling Services, the National Council on Problem Gambling, and the National Center for Responsible Gaming. The main research component is a study that involves the disciplines of treatment development, brain imaging, molecular genetics and behavioral/neurocognitive assessment and is investigating factors associated with outcome in pathological gambling treatment.

Funded Studies

Balodis, I. M., Grilo, C. M., Kober, H., Worhunsky, P. D., White, M. A., Stevens, M. C., & Potenza, M. N. (2014). A pilot study linking reduced fronto–striatal recruitment during reward processing to persistent bingeing following treatment for binge‐eating disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 47(4), 376-384.

Balodis, I.M., Kober, H., Worhunsky, P.D., Stevens, M.C., Pearlson, G.D., & Potenza MN. (2012) Diminished frontostriatal activity during processing of monetary rewards and losses in pathological gambling. Biological Psychiatry 71,749-757.

Balodis, I. M., Lacadie, C. M., & Potenza, M. N. (2012). A preliminary study of the neural correlates of the intensities of self-reported gambling urges and emotions in men with pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 28(3), 493-513.

Barry, D.T., Pilver, C., Desai, 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.

Barry, D.T., Stefanovics, E.A., Desai, R.A., & Potenza, M.N. (2011). Differences in the associations between gambling problem severity and psychiatric disorders among black and white adults: Findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. American Journal on  Addictions, 20, 69-77.

Barry, D.T., Stefanovics, E.A., Desai, R.A., & Potenza, M.N. (2011) Gambling problem severity and psychiatric disorders among Hispanic and white Adults: Findings from a nationally representative sample. Journal of Psychiatry Research, 45, 404-411.

Berlin, H., Koran, L., Potenza, M.N., McElroy, S., Fong, T., Malhotra, S., Braun, A., Simeon, D., Pallanti, S., Chaplin, W., Hollander, E. (2013) A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of topiramate for pathological gambling. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 14,121-128.

Blanco, C., Potenza, M.N., Kim, S.W., Ibanez, A., Zaninelli, R., Saiz-Ruiz, J., & Grant, J.E. (2009). A pilot study of impulsivity and compulsivity in pathological gambling. Psychiatry Research 167,161-168.

Brewer, J.A., Potenza, M.N., & Desai, R.A. (2010). Differential associations between problem and pathological gambling and psychiatric disorders in individuals with and without alcohol abuse or dependence. CNS Spectrums 15, 33-44.

Desai, R. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Cavallo, D., & Potenza, M. N. (2010). Video-gaming among high school students: health correlates, gender differences, and problematic gaming. Pediatrics, peds-2009.

Franco, C. A., Maciejewski, P. K., & Potenza, M. N. (2011). Past-year recreational gambling in a nationally representative sample: Correlates of casino, non-casino, and both casino/non-casino gambling. Psychiatry Research, 188(2), 269-275.

Giddens, J. L., Stefanovics, E., Pilver, C. E., Desai, R., & Potenza, M. N. (2012). Pathological gambling severity and co-occurring psychiatric disorders in individuals with and without anxiety disorders in a nationally representative sample. Psychiatry Research, 199(1), 58-64.

Giddens, J. L., Xian, H., Scherrer, J. F., Eisen, S. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2011). Shared genetic contributions to anxiety disorders and pathological gambling in a male population. Journal of Affective Disorders, 132(3), 406-412.

Grant, J.E., Black, D.W., Stein, D.J., & Potenza, M.N. (2009). Clinical case discussion: Pathological gambling and nicotine dependence. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 3:120-127.

Grant, J.E., Odlaug, B.L., Potenza, M.N., Hollander, E., & Kim, S.W. (2010). A multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the opioid antagonist nalmefene in the treatment of pathological gambling. British Journal of Psychiatry,197, 330-331.

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.

Kundu, P. V., Pilver, C. E., Desai, R. A., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., Krishnan-Sarin, S., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). Gambling-related attitudes and behaviors in adolescents having received instant (scratch) lottery tickets as gifts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(4), 456-464.

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.

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 Psychiatry Research, 47, 534-541.

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.

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).

Potenza MN, Balodis IM, Franco CA, Bullock S, Xu J, Grant JE (2013) Neurobiological considerations in understanding behavioral treatments for pathological gambling. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27, 380-392.

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. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 14, 129-138.

Potenza, M. N., Wareham, J. D., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., Cavallo, D. A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., & Desai, R. A. (2011). Correlates of at-risk/problem internet gambling in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50(2), 150-159.

Rahman, A. S., Pilver, C. E., Desai, R. A., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., Krishnan-Sarin, S., & Potenza, M. N. (2012). The relationship between age of gambling onset and adolescent problematic gambling severity. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 46(5), 675-683.

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.

Rao, H., Mamikonyan, E., Detre, J. A., Siderowf, A. D., Stern, M. B., Potenza, M. N., & Weintraub, D. (2010). Decreased ventral striatal activity with impulse control disorders in Parkinson's disease. Movement Disorders, 25(11), 1660-1669.

Slavin, M., Pilver C.E., Hoff, R.A., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Steinberg, M., 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.

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.

Yip, S. W., Desai, R. A., Steinberg, M. A., Rugle, L., Cavallo, D. A., Krishnan‐Sarin, S., & Potenza, M. N. (2011). Health/functioning characteristics, gambling behaviors, and gambling‐related motivations in adolescents stratified by gambling problem severity: Findings from a high school survey. The American Journal on Addictions, 20(6), 495-508.

Yip, S.W., Lacadie, C., Xu, J., Worhunsky, P.D., Fulbright, R.K., Constable, R.T., & Potenza, M.N. (2013). Reduced genual corpus collosal white matter integrity in pathological gambling and its relationship to alcohol abuse or dependence. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 14, 129-138. PMC3689213

Yip, S. W., White, M. A., Grilo, C. M., & Potenza, M. N. (2011). An exploratory study of clinical measures associated with subsyndromal pathological gambling in patients with binge eating disorder. Journal of Gambling Studies, 27(2), 257-270.