Potential to control gambling addiction by manipulating brain nerve cells identified: Food and Drug Daily KFDN Food and Medicine News

Research has shown that manipulating the shape of some of the dendritic spines of brain nerve cells can reduce the size of nerve cells and control the behavior of gambling addicts. The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the international academic journal ‘Progress in Neurobiology’.

The research team of Professor Jeong-Hoon Kim, Hwa-Young Kim, and Researcher Myeong-Ji Kwak from the Department of Physiology at Yonsei University College of Medicine, and Professor Se-Young Choi and the research Soo-Jeong Choi from the Department of Physiology at Seoul National University Graduate School of Dentistry, artificially manipulated proteins expressed in the cerebral nucleus accumbens to change the shape of dendritic spines to promote risk-taking behavior.

Most patients with addiction tend to take risks to obtain the substance or substance that causes their addiction, even if negative consequences are expected. These characteristics are seen not only in drug addiction but also in behavioral addictions such as gambling addiction.

Although gambling addiction research is limited to humans, this is the first study to manipulate brain proteins and an in-depth analysis of the brain mechanisms of risk-taking behavior through animal models.

By training experimental rats in gambling games, the research team identified a risk-averse group that chose the option that received a small reward at one time, but eventually received a larger reward, and a group that chose the resulting choice. greater reward in the end, and the other group chose an option that got a lot of reward at the same time, but in the end got more reward We separated the risk-seeking group, who chose the choice that produced less reward.

As a result of measuring the electrophysiological properties of the cerebral nucleus accumbens in these rats, the cell excitability of the risk-seeking group was lower than that of the risk-averse group.

The research team overexpressed a mutant gene that is similar to the phosphorylation of a protein called radixin, which regulates the maturation of dendritic spines in nerve cells, in the nucleus accumbens of the risk aversion group through a virus.

Among the dendritic spines in the nucleus accumbens of the risk-averse group, the heads of many of the mushroom-shaped spines became smaller, and cell excitability also decreased. These shape changes were similar to the dendritic spine status of the risk-seeking group. In fact, the risk-seeking tendency of rats in the risk-averse group increased after receiving radixin.

↑ Change in the shape of mushroom spines after radixin overexpression in the nucleus accumbens of the risk-averse group.

Professor Jeong-Hoon Kim said, “This study is important because it showed that there are differences in dendrite shape and electrophysiological properties of the nucleus accumbens according to the type of risk-taking behavior, and that it can be controlled to maintain voluntary risk-taking behavior. manipulating dendrite shape.

At the same time, this research was supported by the Basic Laboratory Support Project and the Mid-Career Researcher Support Project hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT.