Midbrain Mutiny - The Picoeconomics and Neuroeconomics of Disordered Gambling : Economic Theory and Cognitive Science

by Ross, Don; Sharp, Carla; Vuchinich, Rudy; Spurrett, David

• ISBN13: 9780262182652
• ISBN10: 0262182653
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-30
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

The explanatory power of economic theory is tested by the phenomenon of irrational consumption, examples of which include such addictive behaviors as disordered and pathological gambling. Midbrain Mutinyexamines different economic models of disordered gambling, using the frameworks of neuroeconomics (which analyzes decision making in the brain) and picoeconomics (which analyzes patterns of consumption behavior), and drawing on empirical evidence about behavior and the brain. The authors argue that pathological gambling is a true addiction and that addictive gambling is the basic form of addiction, revealing the core character of all addiction. The book describes addiction in neuroeconomic terms as chronic disruption of the balance between the midbrain dopamine system and the prefrontal and frontal serotonergic system, and reviews recent evidence from trials testing the effectiveness of antiaddiction drugs. The authors argue that the best way to understand disordered and addictive gambling is with a hybrid picoeconomic-neuroeconomic model, and their demonstration of this framework's applicability to gambling provides a concrete case study for the more abstract description of picoeconomic-neuroeconomic complementarity in Don Ross's earlier book Economic Theory and Cognitive Science: Microexplanation(MIT Press, 2005).

Table of Contents

Note to Readers about Economic Theory and Cognitive Science	p. vii
Is There Such a Thing as Addiction?	p. 1
Gambling in Scientific Focus	p. 19
Knowledge for Policy	p. 19
Classifying the Phenomena	p. 30
Picoeconomics, Impulsive Consumption, and Disordered Gambling	p. 43
Behavioral Economics and Picoeconomics	p. 43
Intertemporal Choice and Impulsivity	p. 53
The Picoeconomics of Impulsivity	p. 62
Extensions of PE Research to Gambling	p. 80
Temporal Discounting Revisited	p. 88
Behavioral and Psychological Investigations of Disordered Gambling	p. 95
Models and Experiments	p. 95
Distinguishing Delay and Probability Discounting	p. 98
Studies of Discounting in Substance Abusers	p. 102
Studies of Gambling	p. 103
Other Impulsivity Constructs	p. 106
Evidence of Cognitive Impairment	p. 108
Situational Influences on Choice and Decision	p. 112
The Neuroeconomics of Addiction	p. 117
Four Theses about Addiction and Pathological Gambling	p. 117
Neuroeconomics	p. 122
The Reward System	p. 131
The Neurochemistry of Addiction	p. 144
Addictive Gambling as the Basic Form of Addiction	p. 159
Gambling as Reward System Manipulation	p. 159
The Neuroscience of Pathological Gambling	p. 168
Clinical Evidence and Implications	p. 179
General Considerations	p. 179
The Pharmacological Treatment of Pathological Gambling	p. 181
D3 Dopamine Agonists and Partial Agonists	p. 190
The Comorbidity of PG with Other Psychiatric Disorders	p. 192
Nonpharmacological Interventions for PG	p. 194
Classification of Gambling Disorders Revisited	p. 200
The Microexplanation of Disordered Gambling	p. 205
Local Reduction of PG to AG	p. 205
Philosophical Motivations and Normative Implications
Local Reduction of PG to AG without "Sundering" of DG	p. 218
A PE/NE Hybrid Microexplanation of DG	p. 230
Alternative Accounts of Consumption Impulsivity and Confounding of Molar and Molecular Scales	p. 235
A Final Illustration	p. 247
Notes	p. 251
References	p. 261
Index	p. 291
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