Conditions: Pathological Gambling
Keywords: decision making impulsivity
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Enrollment: 19
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This study deals with how people decide between rewards of different value. The investigators want to understand how the brain's dopamine system impacts this kind of decision making. The investigators will use a medication, tolcapone, which can temporarily affect the dopamine system.

Detailed description:
Tolcapone increases the effects of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a substance that is normally present in the brain. It may increase body movement and may also change a person's ability to process information. Tolcapone stops one's own naturally-released dopamine from being broken down as quickly. The investigators are interested in learning if tolcapone has positive effects on a person's decisions about rewards.

Arms:
arm 1: This cognitive science study consists of a single "arm" in which all subjects receive both tolcapone and placebo in randomized, double-blind, counterbalanced, crossover fashion arm 2: This cognitive science study consists of a single "arm" in which all subjects receive both tolcapone and placebo in randomized, double-blind, counterbalanced, crossover fashion

Interventions: intervention 1: Tolcapone intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Tolcapone is in the medication class of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors intervention 2: A placebo is a tablet or capsule that looks like the study medication (in this case, tolcapone) but does not contain any active ingredients

Protocol document: