--- title: Gambling: Why Gamblers Get Less of A Buzz From Pleasure description: A new study shows differences in the brains of pathological gamblers. canonical: https://time.com/3518071/gamblers-get-less-of-a-buzz-from-pleasure-study-finds/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-19T15:46:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:52:09.132Z article:section: Health og:title: Study Finds Gamblers Get Less Of A Buzz From Pleasure og:description: A new study shows differences in the brains of pathological gamblers. og:url: https://time.com/3518071/gamblers-get-less-of-a-buzz-from-pleasure-study-finds/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt573c3dd503d9e4be/69876180a988ca26066a9e59/gambling-poker.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: gambling poker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study Finds Gamblers Get Less Of A Buzz From Pleasure twitter:description: A new study shows differences in the brains of pathological gamblers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt573c3dd503d9e4be/69876180a988ca26066a9e59/gambling-poker.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gamblers Get Less Of a Buzz From Pleasure, Study Finds  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Oct 19, 2014 3:46 PM UTC  All in All inGetty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Oct 19, 2014 3:46 PM UTC New [research](http://www.ecnp.eu/~/media/Files/ecnp/meetings/workshops/WS%202014/Posters/Mick.pdf) presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress in Berlin sheds light on what happens in the brains of gamblers. Pathological gambling is a difficult condition to classify. Though the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) formerly classified it as an impulse control disorder, the most recent version, the DSM-5, made the switch to defining it as an addictive disorder because of the growing research finding that “gambling disorder is similar to substance-related disorders in clinical expression, brain origin, comorbidity, physiology, and treatment,” the DSM website [says](http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Substance%20Use%20Disorder%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf). But this new small study shows that it might be unique in some neurologic ways, too. Researchers performed Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans on 14 male pathological gamblers and 15 non-gambling volunteers to measure their levels of opioid receptors, the parts of the brain activated by pleasure-inducing endorphins. People with addictions like alcoholism or drug addiction have been found to have more opioid receptors. In problem gamblers, however, the researchers saw no difference from healthy volunteers, a finding that surprised them. Then, participants took an amphetamine capsule, which unleashes endorphins with similar effects to the rush you get from exercise or alcohol, the study says. An additional PET scan revealed that pathological gamblers responded differently to the drug. They released fewer endorphins than those who didn’t gamble, and they also reported lower levels of euphoria on a questionnaire afterward. This might help explain the addictive part of pathological gambling: to get pleasure from the act, problem gamblers might need more of it or to work harder for it. “These findings suggest the involvement of the opioid system in pathological gambling and that it may differ from addiction to substances such as alcohol,” says lead researcher Dr. Inge Mick of the Imperial College London in a press release. “We hope that in the long run this can help us to develop new approaches to treat pathological gambling.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3518071/gamblers-get-less-of-a-buzz-from-pleasure-study-finds/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3518071/gamblers-get-less-of-a-buzz-from-pleasure-study-finds/"},"headline":"Gamblers Get Less Of a Buzz From Pleasure, Study Finds","datePublished":"2014-10-19T15:46:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:52:09.132Z","description":"A new study shows differences in the brains of pathological gamblers.","url":"https://time.com/3518071/gamblers-get-less-of-a-buzz-from-pleasure-study-finds/","keywords":["Addiction","gambling","Neuroscience"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt573c3dd503d9e4be/69876180a988ca26066a9e59/gambling-poker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt573c3dd503d9e4be/69876180a988ca26066a9e59/gambling-poker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"gambling poker","caption":"gambling poker","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/addiction/","name":"Addiction"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3518071/gamblers-get-less-of-a-buzz-from-pleasure-study-finds/","name":"Gamblers Get Less Of a Buzz From Pleasure, Study Finds"}}]}] ```