Aging Brain More Susceptible to Problem Gambling, Study Shows
An Australian study shows that, as the human brain ages and atrophies, problem gambling incidents become more likely. According to a survey done by Professor Bill von Hippel of the University of Queensland, normal aging effects lead to a deterioration of self-control and inability to resist compulsive gambling urges.Von Hippel says in "Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition" that part of the aging process results in a shrinking of the frontal lobes of the brain, regarded as the centers of impulse control. He cautions that his evidence suggests the rising danger of problem gambling only occurs among adults who already enjoy gambling.
Von Hippel called for a longitudinal study, examining subjects over years, to assess what part of problem gambling is due to physiological changes and what part social changes.
"The only way to establish confidently that A leads to B is to study people over a long time," said the Australian professor.
He believes his testing has confirmed that there is a larger number of problem gamblers in an aged group than a younger group of gamblers, but von Hippel can't say with certainty the aging process is the only, or even the dominant, cause.
