AIMS: It was assumed that the startle amplitude in smokers is reduced while viewing pictures of smoking, suggesting that smoking cues are appetitive. The goal of the present study was to investigate (i) whether smoking scenes induce appetitive cue effects in smokers, and (ii) whether smoking intensity is related to cue-reactivity. DESIGN: Smokers and non-smokers participated in a single session. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 62 individuals participated: 36 smokers and 26 non-smokers. MEASUREMENTS: Participants took part in an acoustic affective startle experiment using standardized pleasant, neutral and unpleasant scenes from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), as well as pictures of smoking. The effect of smoking cues was assessed by comparing neutral and smoking scenes (termed cue-related startle suppression, CSS). FINDINGS: While there was no overall difference between smokers and non-smokers regarding the CSS, light smokers showed significantly increased cue-reactivity towards smoking-related cues, as compared with heavy smokers and non-smokers. In addition, light smokers also displayed stronger appetitive responses towards positive stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: These data support recent theories which discriminate between habit-based and incentive-based drug abuse. This distinction may have consequences for the assessment and treatment of drug-addicted subjects. Furthermore, incentive-based light smoking seems to have general effects on the reward system.
AIMS: It was assumed that the startle amplitude in smokers is reduced while viewing pictures of smoking, suggesting that smoking cues are appetitive. The goal of the present study was to investigate (i) whether smoking scenes induce appetitive cue effects in smokers, and (ii) whether smoking intensity is related to cue-reactivity. DESIGN: Smokers and non-smokers participated in a single session. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 62 individuals participated: 36 smokers and 26 non-smokers. MEASUREMENTS: Participants took part in an acoustic affective startle experiment using standardized pleasant, neutral and unpleasant scenes from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), as well as pictures of smoking. The effect of smoking cues was assessed by comparing neutral and smoking scenes (termed cue-related startle suppression, CSS). FINDINGS: While there was no overall difference between smokers and non-smokers regarding the CSS, light smokers showed significantly increased cue-reactivity towards smoking-related cues, as compared with heavy smokers and non-smokers. In addition, light smokers also displayed stronger appetitive responses towards positive stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: These data support recent theories which discriminate between habit-based and incentive-based drug abuse. This distinction may have consequences for the assessment and treatment of drug-addicted subjects. Furthermore, incentive-based light smoking seems to have general effects on the reward system.
Authors: Yong Cui; Jeffrey M Engelmann; Jonathan Xian; Jennifer A Minnix; Cho Y Lam; Maher Karam-Hage; Paul M Cinciripini; Jason D Robinson Journal: Int J Psychophysiol Date: 2017-12-06 Impact factor: 2.997
Authors: Bryan W Heckman; Michelle A Kovacs; Nicole S Marquinez; Lauren R Meltzer; Maria E Tsambarlis; David J Drobes; Thomas H Brandon Journal: Addiction Date: 2013-08-14 Impact factor: 6.526
Authors: Yong Cui; Jeffrey M Engelmann; David G Gilbert; Andrew J Waters; Paul M Cinciripini; Jason D Robinson Journal: Psychol Addict Behav Date: 2019-10-28
Authors: Yong Cui; Jason D Robinson; Francesco Versace; Cho Y Lam; Jennifer A Minnix; Maher Karam-Hage; John A Dani; Thomas R Kosten; David W Wetter; Victoria L Brown; Paul M Cinciripini Journal: Addict Behav Date: 2012-02-15 Impact factor: 3.913