It goes without saying that gambling brings about a euphoric rush in players, but have you ever wondered what’s the science behind it? If you’ve ever had that shower thought before, today is the day you learn the answer.
Those of you who’ve been to Vegas or Atlantic City, or have maybe visited US online casinos are definitely familiar with that rush. How would you define it? Is it a full-body sensation? Learn what happens inside your brain while you’re gambling and why it feels so good.
Rush at All Times
On first reading, it makes sense for you to experience the tingling sensation of the winning rush when you, well, win. The satisfaction that the risk you took has paid off is enough without even factoring in the money itself that you’ve won.
It doesn’t make much sense to experience a rush when you’re losing, it’s quite literally the opposite of what we just described, but you actually do. Studies (Narayanan, 2009) have shown that the rush is still there even if you’re losing and that’s because gambling itself makes your body excited.
This can be further backed up with data from anonymous surveys and research conducted by responsible gambling agencies that show that people experience the high at (almost) all times. Other studies (Rutledge, 2014) which prove that hypothesis have even used MRI scans to track the participants’ brain activity, which made us stand in awe of the progress of science.
While these findings are very interesting, they also show why some people, unfortunately, become addicted to gambling. We advise our readers to be mindful of their habits and to play responsibly.
Physical and Mental Processes
We discovered that the rush is indeed accompanying every gambling session, even those which are not profitable, so what is exactly happening to your brain and body to make you feel that way?
One word – dopamine. The neurotransmitter is associated with the reward-motivated actions, meaning that when you anticipate a reward, your brain will automatically release dopamine, and dopamine itself, in layman terms, is known as the “feel-good chemical”.
When you look at the role that dopamine plays, it starts to make sense why players feel the rush at all times – they are in constant anticipation of the reward.
Of course, there are also moments of disappointment and overall bad sensations when one loses, but they only lower one’s expectations, so the next time they win, the dopamine rush is even stronger and the whole process starts over.
The release of dopamine is also associated with faster heartbeat and a very peculiar tingling sensation that you may feel all around your body. The same effect can be seen when one consumes certain illicit drugs.
Visual and Auditory Stimuli
There’s another interesting component to bodily response to gambling which is rarely mentioned – the visual and auditory stimuli. If you’ve ever played a slot machine, think about how the colours, animations, and sound made you feel.
The feeling can be compared to that of going to an amusement park, you’re entertained with the gameplay but you’re also excited about the experience before you even experience it as it looks and sounds promising, which harkens back to the role of dopamine in gambling.
Another possible bodily reaction to gambling could be the experience of ASMR or an autonomous sensory meridian response which is described as a tingling sensation across the body resulting from visual and/or auditory stimuli.
While ASMR nowadays is associated with carefully planned videos by whispering YouTubers, the idea for ASMR and the reason why people enjoy it is because they have prior experience of it. Some everyday sounds and sensations like brushing your hair or tapping on your phone can produce ASMR and the same is true for gambling.
Many people, for example, find the dealer dealing cards and explaining the process relaxing and even tingly, so there is a possible bodily response, ASMR, that gambling can produce.
Funnily enough, there are dozens of so-called “unintentional-ASMR” videos on YouTube from live dealer games where watchers share that they experienced ASMR while observing the games.
Conclusion
We hope you found this article about the bodily response to gambling rush interesting and that you learnt something new today. You can also check out our other articles which explore equally fascinating topics like space travel. We are proud to bring you a plethora of different topics that you can get lost in.
