About the Lab

The Substance Use and Gambling Lab focuses on the behavioural pharmacology of addiction and disordered gambling. Much of this research is conducted in our lab, where substances are administered, and participants gamble on slot machines/video lottery terminals (VLTs). This research is important as it works to help researchers and clinicians better understand the interaction between addictive substances (e.g. tobacco, alcohol) and gambling behaviours. Furthermore, another major aspect of research in this lab is that of attentional biases in disordered gambling. This research is conducted using an eye-tracking device in order to measure implicit biases to gambling stimuli. We also investigate the personality characteristics of gamblers.

Eye-Tracking

Our lab has an Eye Link 1000 Plus, which is used to explore people’s implicit motivations by tracking pupil and corneal cues. This technology allows us to examine attentional processes in real time and can also be integrated with other measures of physiology.