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Part of brain linked to gambling addiction identified by researchers
April 7, 2014 by NewsBot
Researchers believe hyperactivity in the insula could lead to problem gambling; future treatments could focus on reducing this hyperactivity. Gambling is a widespread activity: 73% of people in the UK report some gambling involvement in the past year and around 50% play games other than the National Lottery. For a small proportion of players (around 1-5%), their gambling becomes excessive, resulting in features seen in addiction. Problem gambling is associated with both debt and family difficulties as well as other mental health problems like depression.