Beautiful Minds

with David Comings' papers on a genetic alteration on the D2 receptor in many addicts and alcoholics; and information I found researching for my book She Bets Her Life (not hustling book, I'm interested in developing a deeper understanding of the sub-strata of gambling addiction.) I'll toss you a few observations and conjectures. Slot machine gambling is primarily a visually-triggered and maintained addiction. The link between vision and reticular activating system seems to be crucial It's common cant in 12-step circles that gambling addicts tend to be smarter than the average bear and a lot of us are writers, musicians, artists. Dopamine is a huge player in establishment and maintenance of addictions. There's a great line in Howard Shaffer's photo/text exhibit on addiction. A guy who's multiply addicted says, "Dopamine is Queen."

Of course, it's the whole constellation of neurotransmitters that underlies behavior and thought, but I find it intriguing that there is no medication that effectively treats gambling addiction and, indeed, that L-Dopa can trigger gambling addiction in people who've never gambled.

Check out my blog, She Bets Her Life, on PT website. I'm dancing back and forth between science and the unmeasurable, but you might find some value in it. If you want to correspond, you can reach me at shebetsherlife@gmail.com

Again, thank you for elegant work - and writing. Mary Sojourner