Topic description and stories

Man using internet

Researchers to track impact of lockdown on alcohol, gambling and pornography use

12 May 2020

Is the lockdown leading us to drink more alcohol or spend more time gambling online or watching pornography? Researchers today launch a survey aimed...

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The financial trading centre in the heart of London

Gamblers predicted Brexit before financial traders, study finds

11 Jan 2019

Research shows how financial markets should have predicted Brexit hours before they eventually did, and that betting markets beat currency markets to...

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BASE Jumping from Sapphire Tower, Istanbul

Opinion: Why danger is exciting – but only to some people

06 Sep 2016

Valerie Voon (Department of Psychiatry) discusses what makes some people want to base jump off a cliff, while others don’t even enjoy a rollercoaster...

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Opinion: There’s no such thing as a natural-born gambler

22 Apr 2016

Anthony Pickles (Division of Social Anthropology) discusses why gambling is a relatively modern invention.

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Kings Down

Scientists identify part of brain linked to gambling addiction

08 Apr 2014

New research reveals that brain damage affecting the insula – an area with a key role in emotions – disrupts errors of thinking linked to gambling...

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On the street

New study reveals scale of problem gambling among homeless population

02 Apr 2014

Homeless people are ten times more likely to be problem gamblers than the UK population as a whole, researchers at Cambridge have found.

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Changing Luck for the Better

The psychology of gambling

01 Apr 2007

Gambling is a thriving form of entertainment in the UK, but may also become a form of addiction for some individuals. Just why do people gamble when...

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