Connectivity networks in gambling disorder: a resting-state fMRI study

Gambling disorder (GD) is characterized by an inability to stop or control gambling behaviour and is often accompanied by gambling-related cognitive distortions. Task-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have revealed abnormal responses within the prefrontal and insular cortex, and mesolimbic reward regions. Studies examining resting-state functional connectivity in GD, although limited in number, have so far applied seed-based analysis approaches which revealed altered brain functioning. Here, we applied data-driven Independent Components Analysis to resting-state multi-echo fMRI data. Networks of interest were selected by spatially correlating them to independently derived network templates. Using dual regression, we compared connectivity strength between 20 GD patients and 20 healthy controls within 4 well-known networks (the ventral attention, limbic, frontoparietal control, and default mode network) and an additional basal ganglia component. Compared to controls, GD patients showed increased integration of the right middle insula within the ventral attention network, an area suggested to play an important role in addiction-related drive. Moreover, our findings indicate that gambling-related cognitive distortions - a hallmark of GD - were positively related to stronger integration of the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex and insula within various resting-state networks.