COVER STORY • 封面專題 2022 UMAGAZINE 26 • 澳大新語 13 Substance or behavioural addiction is not a personality flaw, but a brain problem. To study how gaming and gambling change the brain, members of the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences (CCBS) at the University of Macau (UM) have analysed numerous brain scans of addicts over the past two years to inspire new approaches for the prevention and treatment of behavioural addiction. Gaming and Gambling Addiction At UM, Anise Wu, associate dean (research) of the Faculty of Social Sciences and professor in the Department of Psychology, is leading a research project titled ‘The Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Gaming and Gambling Addictions’. ‘Addiction is our inability to stop doing something that can harm us,’ says Prof Wu, a member of CCBS. ‘When people try to stop their addictive behaviours, they may easily relapse because their brains have adapted to craving such behaviours.’ Prof Wu says there is a large body of research on addiction to substances such as drugs and alcohol, and in recent years there has also been a growing interest in behavioural addiction. Gambling addiction, also called gambling disorder or compulsive gambling, has long been included in formal disease classification systems, while gaming disorder, also known as gaming addiction, was not included in the International Classification of Diseases until the 72nd World Health Assembly in 2019. Many studies suggest that these two types of addiction are closely linked. Prof Wu adds that Macao is an ideal place to study gaming and gambling addiction given the city’s long-standing casino and entertainment industries. ‘Our research project has two major goals: to study the neuroplasticity mechanisms underlying addiction, and to investigate the interplay of various environmental sensory influences on addictive behaviour,’ she explains. A Hijacked Reward System in the Brain What can brain scans tell us about addiction? According to Prof Wu, the brain’s reward system is involved in both substance and behavioural addiction, and the neurotransmitter dopamine plays an important role in this system. ‘When you receive a stimulus, such as eating a dessert or winning a 這些功能性磁共振成像掃描顯示研究參加者執行不同風 險的決策任務時的腦部活動的差異 The fMRI scans show differences in brain activity of research participants when they perform different risky decision-making tasks 胡文詩教授（左）和研究助理李雯慧 Prof Anise Wu (left) and research assistant Caren Lei
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