The primary specific aim of this proposal is to study the effects of short-term smoking deprivation on the reactivity of visual evoked potentials (EPs) to smoking-related cues. We will test the principal hypothesis that EP cue-reactivity, as evidenced by a greater amplitude of the P412 and other EP components to smoking-related than to neutral stimuli, will be greater for deprived than for non-deprived smokers at the Fz, Cz, and Pz recording sites. Secondary aims will be to study the relationship between EP cue-reactivity and psychosocial measures of nicotine dependency and smoking urge. We also aim to replicate our preliminary findings in an independent sample of subjects. Even if the deprivation manipulation or other comparisons do not have the hypothesized effect, the proposed study may still yield important results if it provides replication and confirmation of our preliminary findings. To accomplish these aims, the study will test 40 smokers under short-term deprivation and nondeprivation conditions conducted in separate sessions. We will also test 20 matched nonsmokers. Analysis of breath samples for carbon monoxide level will verify smoking abstinence. Abstinence from alcohol and drugs will be verified by testing breath and urine samples. Subjects will fill out several questionnaires and will perform a difficult problem-solving task designed to enhance the desire to smoke. Then, EPs will be recorded to 160 color pictures comprising two categories of stimuli on a video monitor: 1) smoking-related, e.g., pictures of people holding or smoking cigarettes, and 2) neutral, e.g., similar pictures with a non-smoking-related theme. At the end of the session, subjects will rate the pleasantness and smokers will rate the degree to which each stimulus evokes an """"""""urge-to-smoke."""""""" Accomplishing these aims will be important to our understanding of the functional significance of EP reactivity to smoking-cue exposure and has obvious, direct relevance to the issue of smoking relapse following quit attempts. The knowledge gained will not be merely redundant with what might be learned by studying other response measures; while EPs share some variance with other autonomic or psychosocial measures, they show a great deal of variance not in common with those measures. Long-term objectives of the proposed research are to: 1. Develop EP profiles to sets of smoking-related stimuli as indicators of selected affective and cognitive components of tobacco addiction; 2. Utilize such EP profiles clinically for diagnosis and treatment, e.g., to prospectively predict relapse among quitting smokers, to design custom interventions, such as systematic desensitization for specific sub-categories of smoking cues, and/or to assess the impact of this or other cessation interventions; 3. Begin to study the EP cue-reactivity of other substance addictions, such as alcohol, cocaine or heroin.
| McDonough, B E; Warren, C A (2001) Effects of 12-h tobacco deprivation on event-related potentials elicited by visual smoking cues. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 154:282-91 |
