Neural correlates of the impact of control on decision making in pathological gambling

► PGs' neural activity does not distinguish situations of control and no control. ► Different directions of cortical modulation in PGs and NPGs to gambling stimuli. ► PGs lack a delayed, right lateralized, frontal cortical task-dependent engagement. ► PGs differentially process gambling stimuli other than potential costs or rewards. ► Gambling pathology does not contribute to processing the potential cost of a bet.