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When we have a gambling win, the brain releases a feel-good chemical called dopamine.

But when we gamble often, our brain gets used to the dopamine, which makes that winning feeling difficult to achieve. Consequently, we may have to gamble more and more to feel the same level of pleasure.

Some gambling products, like pokies and roulette, make us feel like we’re winning, even when we’re not. This encourages us to keep gambling to try to recapture that winning feeling.

Dr Jared Cooney Horvath is a neuroscientist at the University of Melbourne. He explains all this and more in these videos.

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The brain constantly changes as we learn, creating associations and establishing patterns. This means it is never too late for us to change our brain.

Learn more in these videos

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What are your experiences of gambling? Sharing stories with others can be helpful for them and for you. We’d love to hear your story.

Dr Gabriele Byrne retrained her brain and changed her relationship with gambling. She shares her story here.

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We understand how gambling affects the brain and encourage anyone who needs help to access our free, therapeutic counselling and support.