Hormonal responses in gambling versus alcohol abuse: a review of human studies

Yansong Li , Nicolas Ramoz (1) , Edmund Derrington (2) , Jean-Claude Dreher (2)

1 IPNP - U1266 Inserm - Institut de psychiatrie et neurosciences de Paris
2 ISC-MJ - Institut des sciences cognitives Marc Jeannerod - Centre de neuroscience cognitive - UMR5229

The endocrine system plays an essential role in communication between various organs of the body to maintain homeostasis. Both substance use disorders (SUDs) and non-substance abuse disrupt this system and lead to hormonal dysregulations. Here, we focus on the comparison between the function of the endocrine system in gambling disorders and alcohol addiction to understand the commonalities and differences in their neurobio-logical and psychological underpinnings. We review human research to compare findings on gambling addiction and alcohol dependence pertaining to the dynamic interplay between testosterone and cortisol. Understanding and classifying similarities in hormonal responses between behavioural addiction and SUDs may facilitate development of treatments and therapeutic interventions across different types of addictive disorders, while describing differences may shed light on therapeutic interventions for specific disorders. Although research on gambling addiction is in its infancy, such evaluation may still have a positive effect for addiction research, thereby stimulating discovery of "crossover" pharmacotherapies with benefits for both SUDs and nonsubstance addictions.

Domaines: Sciences cognitives

Yansong Li, Nicolas Ramoz, Edmund Derrington, Jean-Claude Dreher. Hormonal responses in gambling versus alcohol abuse: a review of human studies. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 2020, 100, ⟨10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.109880⟩. ⟨hal-02353112⟩