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Cigarette cues capture smokers' attention: Evidence from event‐related potentials
Author(s) -
Versace Francesco,
Robinson Jason D.,
Lam Cho Y.,
Minnix Jennifer A.,
Brown Victoria L.,
Carter Brian L.,
Wetter David W.,
Cinciripini Paul M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00946.x
Subject(s) - psychology , event related potential , cognitive psychology , selective attention , event (particle physics) , developmental psychology , neuroscience , cognition , physics , quantum mechanics
Before starting a smoking cessation treatment, 51 smokers took part in a study aimed at investigating brain mechanisms associated with attention allocation. Event‐related potentials to acoustic startle probes were recorded from 129 sensors during the presentation of neutral, pleasant, unpleasant, and cigarette‐related pictures. Results indicated that the amplitude of the startle probe P3 component was reduced for pleasant, unpleasant, and cigarette‐related conditions relative to neutral. Surface Laplacian estimates showed that sources of electrocortical activity under frontal and parietal sensors contributed to the modulation of this effect. For smokers, cigarette‐related stimuli, like intrinsically motivating ones, capture attentional resources and therefore reduce the ability to process competing stimuli. The depletion of attentional resources in the presence of cigarette‐related cues may contribute to the high relapse rate observed during attempts to quit smoking.