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- Title
Effect of tryptophan depletion on the attentional salience of smoking cues.
- Authors
Hitsman, Brian; Spring, Bonnie; Pingitore, Regina; Munafò, Marcus; Hedeker, Donald
- Abstract
There is increasing evidence linking cigarette craving and smoking behavior to serotonergic neurotransmission. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of a serotonergic challenge on the attentional salience of various cues associated with cigarettes. We hypothesized that cigarette-related word cues would be more distracting after acute tryptophan depletion than after a placebo challenge. We also hypothesized that smokers vulnerable to recurrent depression would show greater attentional bias towards these cues than smokers without a history of depression. Thirty-four smokers diagnosed as having ( n = 15) or lacking ( n = 19) a history of DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD) underwent acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) and placebo challenges in double-blind and counterbalanced order 1 week apart. Five hours after consumption of each mixture, subjects completed a modified Stroop task to measure attentional bias to smoking-related, positive affect, and negative affect word cues. Stroop interference was calculated as a difference score between latencies for the motivationally salient and the neutral (furniture) word lists. Controlling for change in dysphoric mood from baseline to 5 h, repeated measures MANOVAs showed that ATD, as compared to placebo challenge, produced greater interference for smoking word cues [ F(1,29)=4.15, p = 0.05], but not for negative [ F(1,29)=2.78, p = 0.11] or positive [ F(1,29)=1.60, p = 0.22] affect word cues. Acutely compromising central serotonergic neurotransmission via ATD heightens the attentional salience of cigarette-related cues, perhaps by triggering reward and motivational deficits underlying nicotine dependence.
- Subjects
TRYPTOPHAN; SMOKING; NEURAL transmission; NICOTINE addiction; CIGARETTE smokers; MENTAL depression
- Publication
Psychopharmacology, 2007, Vol 192, Issue 3, p317
- ISSN
0033-3158
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00213-007-0722-2