Over the past several decades, there have been significant advances in medical and scientific technologies that allow for the improved examination of the biological processes underlying specific behaviors. Advances in neuroimaging and molecular biology allow for studies that a decade or two previously were scarcely imaginable. For example, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), via assessment of oxygenated as compared with deoxygenated hemoglobin levels, permits the investigation of brain function in a non-invasive, non-radioactive fashion in living beings.

Neuroimaging studies found that gambling associated cognitive and motivational events, or responses of pathological gamblers to gambling-related stimuli, are associated with metabolic changes in brain regions implicated in studies of substance use disorders. Gambling cue presentation elicits gambling urges and leads to a temporally dynamic pattern of brain activity changes in frontal, paralimbic, and limbic brain structures. Studies of twins indicate shared genetic contributions for the development of pathological gambling and alcohol dependence. Recent research on the neurobiological basis of pathological gambling indicates that there is an abnormal dopamine, serotonin and noradrenergic neurotransmitter activity in pathological gambling. Deficiencies in dopamine regulation in pathological gambling point to vulnerabilities not only for developing pathological gambling, but also for other addictive behaviors.