Gambling has been one of the favourite pastimes of people around the world for centuries, and for good reason. Gambling has a particular euphoria about it, as those who regularly pull out a lottery ticket or visit one of the UK’s many Netent casinos are well aware.
But where does this euphoria actually come from? And how can it be that such a joyful leisure activity can become a problem, namely gambling addiction? Answers to this question are provided by biology and the way our brain works. We show you what actually happens to us during a visit to the casino or during a lottery draw and explain what the fascination of gambling is all about.
What exactly are games of chance?
Each of us has a certain idea when we read about games of chance. Depending on which games we have had more contact within our lives so far, we will think of the most diverse games of chance. Lottery tickets, poker tournaments, slots, or online casinos – no matter what form of gambling it is, all these types of games have one thing in common: there is a luck factor that influences the outcome of the game either completely or at least to a large extent.
Another aspect mentioned in most definitions of gambling is the monetary component. This means that money or money equivalents can be wagered in the game and potentially increased. A basic distinction is made between two types of games of chance:
- Pure games of chance
This category includes all typical games of chance known as such: Lotteries, dice games, slots, and table games such as roulette or craps. These are games in which the outcome of the game is decided solely by chance and thus by luck, and the participant cannot influence the outcome.
- Partial games of chance
In contrast to pure games of chance, these are games in which chance has a clear influence on the outcome, but in which the player also has an influence on the outcome of the game. These include games such as poker or the board game backgammon.
Regardless of the type of gambling, however, the mechanisms that run in our brain are the same. This also explains why, in the case of gambling addiction, no distinction is made between different types of gambling.
Gambling from the perspective of neurobiology
Gambling can be classified at the level of brain waves primarily in the field of neurobiology. In other words, gambling puts the brain into a kind of state of emergency through the release of certain hormones. The cycle is quite simple:
- The thought of gambling arises or a gambling game is participated in.
- The hormones released to cause a feeling of happiness – and it is precisely this feeling that makes us return to gambling again and again.
What becomes clear from these processes, which sometimes only deal with the processes in the brain at the beginning of the gambling experience, is one thing in particular: regardless of whether you win or lose, the proverbial state of happiness begins in our heads long before the cash register rings for the first time.
How can gambling influence our brain?
In current brain research, a previously unknown phenomenon was discovered a few years ago, which has changed not only the field of brain research but also that of learning theory and many other fields: Neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity, also called neurological plasticity, is, very simply put, the ability of the brain to change even in adulthood. Unlike the growth of our bones, for example, the brain retains its malleability even in advanced age and is subject to constant change. In detail, this involves structural, functional, and also adaptive changes in the central nervous system, so that we can restructure our brain through learning and repetition, so to speak.
These hormones have us in their grip
In particular, gamblers who spend a lot of time in casinos or regularly enjoy the excitement of various lottery draws are under the influence of the two hormones already mentioned, dopamine and serotonin.
Dopamine is now widely known as the so-called happiness hormone. Simply put, dopamine is actually responsible for the feeling of happiness. The level of dopamine in the blood influences how good, i.e. how happy, we feel by having either more or fewer receptors in our nervous system occupied by this hormone.
Serotonin is also a messenger substance in our body, even though it has not quite reached the level of awareness of the hormone dopamine yet. Serotonin also leads to feeling positive, boosts motivation and even causes positive changes to occur at the physical level of the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems.
When gambling becomes a problem
The neuroplasticity of our brain not only allows us to learn, develop and change as adults but of course also allows addictive behaviour to be programmed into the functioning of the brain, so to speak.
How does this work? Via the two hormones serotonin and dopamine, which can cause an immense feeling of happiness – a feeling similar to a state of intoxication that we would like to experience again and again. The problem, however, is not so much high in the game itself, but rather the low that inevitably follows every high. This low is responsible for the so-called withdrawal symptoms.
But even though one is far from being in danger of slipping into gambling addiction, the influence on our brain is part of the gambling experience from the very beginning. The habituation effect is primarily responsible for this. Many other people such as extreme athletes experience this habituation factor, which explains why a leisure activity can quickly lose its appeal in terms of thrill.
What once seemed so exciting and made us hold our breath suddenly loses its luster and the search for the high of the feeling of happiness and excitement of the first attempts begins. Be it the casino gambler who plays with bigger stakes or the mountain climber whose next peak has to be several hundred metres higher – we want more! And exactly what happens in the brain during gambling is the reason responsible for this.