{"id":253885,"date":"2023-01-16T15:26:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T21:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=253885"},"modified":"2023-01-16T16:09:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T22:09:52","slug":"party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Party Drug Ketamine to be Studied as Treatment for Problem Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drugs and gambling generally make terrible bedfellows. But research will soon begein to study the effects of the horse anesthetic turned illegal party drug, ketamine, on problem gamblers.<\/p>\n

\"Ketamine,
Ketamine is used recreationally (illegally) for its reported ability to induce a euphoric and mildly hallucinogenic state. It\u2019s also a horse tranquilizer. But could it hold the key to treating gambling addiction? (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Academics from the University of Exeter in England are working on the theory the drug\u2019s impact on memory could be used to break down the positive reinforcement felt by gamblers when they win, thereby inhibiting the urge to gamble.<\/p>\n

The idea is that addictions are fundamentally acquired or learned behaviors, and that ketamine has the ability to \u201crewrite\u201d these memories. A 2019 study<\/a> found the drug\u2019s effect on memory showed promise in treating alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n

Memory Reset<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cSomething that we\u2019re really interested in tackling in gambling addiction is a kind of superstitious thinking which we particularly think ketamine might work on,\u201d Celia Morgan, Professor of Psychopharmacology at Exeter, told scientific news site Technological Networks.<\/em><\/p>\n

[This] is where gamblers come to associate certain cues, and they\u2019ve got to overlearn the association between a cue and winning. They enter into very superstitious behaviors, which is quite unique to gambling,\u201d<\/strong> she added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Researchers are currently looking for human guinea pigs to take part in the study. Volunteers must be regular gamblers, and they must be over the age of 18, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n

Down the \u2018K-Hole\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Developed as an anesthetic and still used in veterinary medicine, particularly on larger animals, ketamine is derived from Phencyclidine (PCP), also known as angel dust. It is used recreationally for its ability to induce a euphoric and mildly hallucinogenic state.<\/p>\n

Users who take too large a dose have reported experiencing an unpleasant state of dissociation and confusion, known as a \u201cK-hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are using one of the capacities of the ketamine which is to block a process of re-stabilization of memory. In the study that we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re going to reactivate gambling memories. We\u2019ll be showing people, depending on what their modality of gambling is, a roulette wheel or slot machines or horses, and this reactivates the memory,\u201d<\/strong> Morgan said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cNormally in memory, this means that this memory becomes active and you\u2019re able to update it. Then it\u2019s restabilized \u2013 saved again, in computer terms \u2013 and is laid down more strongly,” she added. “If you give ketamine during this time of reactivation, what\u2019s been found particularly in animals is that this can weaken the memory trace. That\u2019s what we\u2019re looking at in this study.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drugs and gambling generally make terrible bedfellows. But research will soon begein to study the effects of the horse anesthetic turned illegal party drug, ketamine, on problem gamblers. Academics from the University of Exeter in England are working on the theory the drug\u2019s impact on memory could be used to break down the positive reinforcement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":253892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18943],"tags":[84551,83027,84552],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nParty Drug Ketamine to be Studied as Treatment for Problem Gambling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ketamine could be used to treat problem gambling because of it can \u201creset\u201d the human memory, according to Essex University researchers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Party Drug Ketamine to be Studied as Treatment for Problem Gambling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ketamine could be used to treat problem gambling because of it can \u201creset\u201d the human memory, according to Essex University researchers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-16T21:26:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-16T22:09:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ketamine.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"794\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/\",\"name\":\"Party Drug Ketamine to be Studied as Treatment for Problem Gambling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ketamine.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-16T21:26:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-16T22:09:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Ketamine could be used to treat problem gambling because of it can \u201creset\u201d the human memory, according to Essex University researchers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/party-drug-ketamine-to-be-studied-as-treatment-for-problem-gambling\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ketamine.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ketamine.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":794,\"caption\":\"Ketamine is used recreationally (illegally) for its reported ability to induce a euphoric and mildly hallucinogenic state. 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