Gambling Near-Misses Enhance Motivation to Gamble and Recruit Win-Related Brain Circuitry
Clark first author. In a simplified slot machine task with behavioural and neural measures, near misses were rated less pleasant than full misses yet increased the desire to play, and that effect was restricted to trials where the participant had personal control over arranging the gamble. Near misses recruited striatal and insula circuitry that also responded to monetary wins. The abstract does not state a sample size.
Clark first author. In a simplified slot machine task with behavioural and neural measures, near misses were rated less pleasant than full misses yet increased the desire to play, and that effect was restricted to trials where the participant had personal control over arranging the gamble. Near misses recruited striatal and insula circuitry that also responded to monetary wins. The abstract does not state a sample size.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
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Clark, L., Lawrence, A. J., Astley-Jones, F., & Gray, N. (2009). Gambling Near-Misses Enhance Motivation to Gamble and Recruit Win-Related Brain Circuitry. Neuron, 61(3), 481-490. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2008.12.031.