Cigarette craving is associated with blunted reward processing in nicotine-dependent smokers

Abstract

Background Dysfunctional reward processing leading to the undervaluation of non-drug rewards is hypothesized to play a crucial role in nicotine dependence. However, it is unclear if blunted reward responsivity and the desire to use nicotine are directly linked after a brief period of abstinence. Such an association would suggest that individuals with reduced reward responsivity may be at increased risk to experience nicotine craving. Methods Reward function was evaluated with a probabilistic reward task (PRT), which measures reward responsivity to monetary incentives. To identify whether smoking status influenced reward function, PRT performance was compared between non-depressed, nicotine-dependent smokers and non-smokers. Within smokers, correlations were conducted to determine if blunted reward responsivity on the PRT was associated with increased nicotine craving. Time since last nicotine exposure was standardized to 4 hours for all smokers. Results Smokers and non-smokers did not differ in reward responsivity on the PRT. However, within smokers, a significant negative correlation was found between reward responsivity and intensity of nicotine craving. Conclusions The current findings show that, among smokers, the intensity of nicotine craving is linked to lower sensitivity to non-drug rewards. This finding is in line with prior theories that suggest reward dysfunction in some clinical populations (e.g., depressive disorders, schizophrenia) may facilitate nicotine use. The current study expands on such theories by indicating that sub-clinical variations in reward function are related to motivation for nicotine use. Identifying smokers who show blunted sensitivity to non-drug rewards may help guide treatments aimed at mitigating the motivation to smoke.

Current major depression is associated with greater sensitivity to the motivational effect of both negative mood induction and abstinence on tobacco-seeking behavior

“…The second explanation is that depressed smokers are more sensitive to a wide range of correlated adverse triggers for smoking. In fact, a wide range of adverse states (in addition to negative affect and abstinence) have been shown to augment tobacco motivation including stress/anxiety (Owens et al, 2014), rumination (Dvorak et al, 2011), anger/hostility (Quinn et al, 2014; Zuo et al, 2016), cognitive dysfunction (Hall et al, 2015), fatigue/sleepiness (Hamidovic and de Wit, 2009) and reward hyposensitivity (Peechatka et al, 2015). Although it remains to be tested whether depressed smokers are more sensitive to all of these adverse triggers, our finding that they are more sensitive to both mood induction and abstinence suggests this may be the case.…”

Neural substrates of smoking and reward cue reactivity in smokers: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies

“…An fMRI study revealed that smokers exhibited lower brain reactivity, especially in reward-related brain regions (e.g., caudate and putamen), to nontobacco rewardrelated stimuli (e.g., favorite food) compared with nonsmokers 15 . Another study investigated the association between the severity of nicotine dependence and the response to monetary rewards and found that the intensity of nicotine craving among smokers was linked to lower sensitivity to nondrug-related rewards 16 . The threshold of reward has been shown to increase as addiction develops, expressed by higher drug tolerance.…”

mGluR5 receptor availability is associated with lower levels of negative symptoms and better cognition in male patients with chronic schizophrenia

“…Acknowledging the very high prevalence of smoking (more than 60%) in subjects with schizophrenia (Chapman, Ragg, & McGeechan, ) and their greater difficulties in quitting smoking (Wing, Wass, Soh, & George, ), a more precise understanding of the common neurobiological basis of schizophrenia and nicotine dependence is of particular importance. Several investigations have emphasized the potential usage of tobacco by schizophrenia patients for self‐medication purposes in order to alleviate specific symptoms (Lucatch, Lowe, Clark, Kozak, & George, ), particularly negative symptoms and dysfunctional reward circuits (Peechatka, Whitton, Farmer, Pizzagalli, & Janes, ). However, investigations in this field have yielded mixed findings.…”