Pathological gambling and impulsivity related to Huntington's disease

Abstract

Patients with Huntington's disease are a risk group for developing problematic gambling, which is characterised by subjects’ inability to stop gambling despite financial, personal or professional problems. Predisposition to pathological gambling and other addictions involves disturbances in the same corticostriatal circuits that are affected in Huntington's disease, and displays similar disinhibition-related symptoms. The authors present a case of long-standing pathological gambling, impulsivity and organic mood disorder related to Huntington's disease.