Neural correlates of proactive and reactive motor response inhibition of gambling stimuli in frequent gamblers

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine whether motivational-salient cues could exert a differential impact on proactive (the restrain of actions in preparation for stopping) and reactive (outright stopping) inhibition. Fourteen high-frequency poker players, and 14 matched non-gambler controls, performed a modified version of the stop-signal paradigm, which required participants to inhibit categorization of poker or neutral pictures. The probability that a stop-signal occurs (0%, 17%, 25%, 33%) was manipulated across blocks of trials, as indicated by the color of the computer screen. Behavioral analyses revealed that poker players were faster than controls in categorizing pictures across all levels of proactive motor response inhibition (go trials). Brain imaging analyses highlighted higher dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation in poker players, as compared to controls, during reactive inhibition. These findings suggest that, due to their faster rates of stimulus discrimination, poker players might have recruited more cognitive resources than controls when required to stop their response (reactive inhibition). Nevertheless, no main effect of stimulus type was found, on either proactive or reactive inhibition. Additional studies are, therefore, needed in order to confirm that investigating the dynamics between reactive and proactive inhibition offers a discriminative analysis of inhibitory control toward motivational-salient cues.