Rats Can Gamble Too. What It Means.
June 18, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
University of British Columbia researchers have done something rather amazing. They’ve created the first animal laboratory experiment to successfully model human gambling.
How rats gambled:
Rats had a limited amount of time to choose between four gambling options — associated with delivery of different numbers of sugar pellets. If the rats won, they were rewarded. If they lost, the rats had a time-out period during which they could not earn a reward.
The higher the risk, the greater potential for sugar pellets, along with the possibility of more frequent and longer timeouts. The animals figured out how to be great gamblers! Rats selected the option with the optimum level of risk and reward to maximize their sugar pellet profits.
University of British Columbia Professor Catharine Winstanley and graduate student Fiona Zeeb have created the world's first animal laboratory experiment to successfully model human gambling.
The findings:
Rats treated with drugs that reduced serotonin levels had a dramatically lower ability to play the odds. Serotonin is associated with impulse control in humans. When rats were given a drug that reduced dopamine levels, their ability to optimize profits was improved. Dopamine is associated with impulse control in humans.
Results are consistent with recent clinical findings in humans, which helps validate the technique as a model for studying human gambling behaviors.
“We hope this will speed up the development of gambling treatments for humans by giving us a working model to explore drugs and therapies,” said UBC Prof. Catharine Winstanley.
(Photo courtesy of Dr. Catharine Winstanley)
