Effects of Smoking Social Cues on Inhibitory Control in Smokers: An Event-Related Potential Study

The enhancing effect of social reward on inhibitory control in smokers: Evidence from behaviour and ERP studies

OBJECTIVE

Prior research has revealed impaired inhibitory control as a pivotal factor contributing to smokers' struggle to control smoking impulses. However, few studies focus on enhancing smokers' inhibitory control. This study investigates the potential of social rewards to bolster inhibitory control among smokers and elucidates the underlying mechanisms.

METHODS

In Experiment 1, a reward-based Go/Nogo paradigm assessed error rates and reaction times for 30 smokers exposed to social reward and neutral feedback in distinct contexts (smoking-related and neutral). Experiment 2 used a modified paradigm, incorporating cognitive load manipulation, to investigate error rates, reaction times, N2, and P3 ERPs among 32 smokers facing social reward and neutral feedback under different cognitive loads (high and low).

RESULTS

Smokers exhibit lower Nogo error rates with social reward feedback; higher error rates occur with smoking cues and high cognitive load; increased N2, P3 amplitudes under social reward versus neutral feedback; low cognitive load enhances P3 amplitude under social reward.

CONCLUSION

Social reward improves smokers' inhibitory control, but this effect weakens with exposure to smoking cues; higher cognitive load further diminishes the enhancement of smokers' inhibitory control by social reward under smoking cues.

Effects of smoking social cues on brand perception and smoking: an event-related potential study

Introduction

Smokers' dependence on tobacco products stems not only from substance addiction but also from social influences. While prior research has explored the impact of smoking action cues, it has largely overlooked smoking social cues and their role in shaping brand perception and smokers' willingness to pay (WTP), leaving a gap in understanding their interaction. This study addresses the gap by analyzing event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral decisions in response to smoking social and action cues.

Methods

Using a 2×2 design (social cues: present vs. absent; action cues: present vs. absent), we assessed brand perception, WTP, and N1 and P3 ERP amplitudes in 22 smokers (18 males, mean age 23.14 ± 1.60 years).

Results

Results showed that smoking social cues increased brand perception and WTP while reducing N1 amplitudes, indicating that the presence of smoking social cues interfere with the processing of smoking action stimuli.

Discussion

These findings highlights the importance of avoiding the simultaneous inclusion of social and action cues in anti-smoking advertisements, which also provide valuable insights for smoking cessation research.

Deficits in general and smoking-specific response inhibition in the Go/No-Go task in individuals who smoke: A cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Previous studies on response inhibition deficits in smoking have often been conducted in small, young, age-homogeneous samples, without controlling for covariates or testing moderating effects. The primary research question compared response inhibition between a large, age-diverse smoking sample and non-smoking controls, and examined whether deficits were exacerbated toward smoking-related stimuli. By accounting for key covariates and moderators, this study aimed to extend understanding of individual differences in response inhibition deficits in smoking.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Cross-sectional study conducted at a university laboratory in Munich, Germany.

PARTICIPANTS

The large (n = 122, 57% female), age-diverse (Mage = 41.4, range: 21-70 years) smoking group comprised individuals with moderate to severe tobacco dependence participating in a smoking reduction intervention study. Controls comprised n = 69 healthy individuals with no smoking history.

MEASUREMENTS

Primary outcomes were commission error (CE) rates and mean reaction times in Go trials (Go-RT) in general and smoking-specific Go/No-Go tasks (GNGTs). Covariates included age, sex and IQ. Smoking-related variables were cigarettes per day (CPD), tobacco dependence severity and craving.

FINDINGS

General GNGT: The smoking group exhibited significantly higher CE rates (P-value < 0.001, medium effect, BF10 = 9.06) than the control group. Higher craving was associated with faster Go-RTs (β = -1.487, P-value = 0.041). Smoking-specific GNGT: CE rates were significantly higher in the smoking group only when controlling for covariates (β = 1.272, P-value = 0.040). Higher craving was associated with higher CE rates during smoking-related trials (β = 0.108, P-value = 0.010). The smoking group showed significantly faster Go-RTs in response to smoking-related compared with neutral stimuli, relative to the control group (β = -3.326, P-value = 0.027). Preliminary evidence indicated that greater deficits were associated with higher scores in smoking-related variables, but only in older individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals who smoke appear to exhibit response inhibition deficits, although these are not uniform and seem to be exacerbated during higher reported craving or in response to smoking-related stimuli. Age may moderate the relationship between deficits and smoking-related variables.

Electrophysiological activity underlying motor inhibition facilitated by touch

Tactile sensory information obtained from oneself or others may provide a calming effect and has been shown to enhance participants' motor control. The extent to which these touch activities may support motor inhibition and the related electrophysiological mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we investigated these effects in twenty healthy volunteers via electroencephalography under 3 touching conditions (self-touch, other-touch, and no-touch) during a stop-signal task. We found that both the self-touch and other-touch conditions resulted in better stopping accuracy and lower stop-signal reaction times than the no-touch condition. Additionally, these 2 touch conditions elicited larger N2 and P3 responses during successful inhibition of planned finger movements. Time-varying network analysis based on electroencephalography was further used to explore the differences in brain networks during conflict monitoring substages under different touch conditions. A top-down projection from the frontal cortex (Fz) to the parietal and occipital cortices was observed along with increased functional connectivity efficiency under touch conditions. These results indicate that tactile information may enhance neural processing efficiency in the human brain by eliciting larger event-related potential components and promoting information processing in the brain network during conflict monitoring processes, thereby contributing to the reactive inhibitory component of motor inhibition.

Social addiction or nicotine addiction? The effect of smoking social motivation on inhibitory control under smoking social cues: Evidence from ERPs

INTRODUCTION

Previous studies and theoretical models suggest that the decreasing effect of smoking-related cues on inhibitory control in individuals who smoke is one of the underlying mechanisms of smoking behavior. However, many studies have overlooked the effects of other types of smoking-related cues, such as social cues. Moreover, previous studies have lacked investigation into whether this decreasing effect is influenced by internal factors. The present study aims to integrate behavioral and electrophysiological indicators to investigate the effect of smoking social cues on inhibitory control in individuals who smoke, as well as the moderating role of social motivations.

METHOD

In Experiment 1, a visual Go/NoGo paradigm with four types of backgrounds (neutral, neutral social, smoking object, and smoking social backgrounds) was used to record the error rates and reaction times of 32 participants who smoke. In Experiment 2, the Go/NoGo paradigm with two types of backgrounds (smoking object and smoking social backgrounds) was used to record the error rates, reaction times, and amplitudes of the N2 and P3 event-related potentials among 30 participants who smoke with varying degrees of primed smoking social motivation.

RESULTS

(1) Individuals who smoke had higher commission error rates and larger P3 amplitude under smoking social background than under smoking object background; (2) individuals who smoke with primed high smoking social motivation, rather than low motivation had higher commission error rates and larger P3 amplitude under smoking social background than under smoking object background.

CONCLUSIONS

Smoking social cues have a greater capacity to decrease inhibitory control in people who smoke than smoking object cues, and this decreasing effect is bolstered by smoking social motivation.

The Impact of Problematic Social Media Use on Inhibitory Control and the Role of Fear of Missing Out: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

Introduction

The general deficit in inhibitory control of problematic social media users has received widespread attention. However, the neural correlates of problematic social media use (PSMU) and inhibitory control remain unclear. Additionally, the co-occurrence of the fear of missing out (FoMO) with social media use is common, yet its role in the relationship between PSMU and inhibitory control has not been investigated.

Methods

This study aimed to examine the electrophysiological correlates of PSMU and inhibitory control using a modified two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs), and to explore the role of FoMO in this relationship. A total of 66 participants with varying degrees of PSMU were included in the analysis based on the Problematic Mobile Social Media Usage Questionnaire.

Results

The study found that PSMU could impact inhibitory control. Specifically, as the PSMU score increases, the N2 amplitude is greater for social media-related pictures, and the P3 amplitude is smaller, while no significant differences are observed for neutral pictures. This suggests that PSMU affects inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. Furthermore, FoMO played a mediating role between PSMU and inhibitory control. PSMU could further impact inhibitory control through FoMO.

Conclusion

This study provides electrophysiological evidence for deficits in inhibitory control in PSMU and suggests that FoMO may further reduce inhibitory control in PSMU individuals.

Effects of fear of missing out on inhibitory control in social media context: evidence from event-related potentials

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of fear of missing out (FoMO) on inhibitory control in social media context. The present study used a two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs) technology to measure inhibitory control. Based on the Fear of Missing Out Scale, participants with varying degrees of FoMO were recruited to complete two studies. A total of 78 participants in Study 1 completed a two-choice oddball task (stimuli "W" or "M"). The results showed that FoMO did not have a significant impact on general inhibitory control at both the behavioral and electrophysiological levels. To further examine the effect of FoMO in social media context. In Study 2, 72 participants completed a modified two-choice oddball task with three types of pictures (high and low social media-related and neutral). The behavioral results revealed that as FoMO scores increased, inhibitory control decreased. ERP analysis revealed that with higher FoMO scores, social media-related pictures elicited larger N2 amplitude and smaller P3 amplitude, but not for neutral pictures. This suggests that FoMO undermines inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. These findings suggest that FoMO can undermine inhibitory control in the social media context. Considering the indispensable use of social media in the digital age, addressing and understanding the influence of FoMO on inhibitory control could be essential for promoting healthy digital behaviors and cognitive functions.