Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026
12:44
A General Method for Evaluating Incubation of Sucrose Craving in Rats
Published on: November 4, 2011
Cue-induced cigarette and food craving: a common effect?
Mindi A Styn1, Dana H Bovbjerg, Samara Lipsky
1University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Department of Health and Community Systems, 3500 Victoria Street, 415 Victoria Building, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. mimst31@pitt.edu
Addictive Behaviors
|December 25, 2012
Summary
Individuals who experience strong cravings for cigarettes when exposed to cues also tend to have heightened cravings for highly preferred foods, suggesting a general cue-reactivity phenotype. This finding has implications for developing targeted behavior change therapies for addictive behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Science
- Addiction Research
- Psychology
Background:
- Cue-induced cravings can impede behavior change, such as smoking cessation.
- Identifying a common cue-reactive phenotype could inform behavior change therapies.
- Understanding individual differences in reactivity to appetitive cues is crucial for intervention development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between cue-induced cigarette cravings and cue-induced cravings for a highly preferred food (chocolate) in adult smokers.
- To determine if a general cue-reactive phenotype exists across different appetitive outcomes.
- To explore implications for behavior change therapies targeting addictive and hedonically mediated behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Adult smokers (N=164) were exposed to cues for cigarettes and chocolate.
- Chocolate cravings were assessed before and after chocolate cue exposure.
- Cigarette cravings were assessed before and after smoking cue exposure.
Main Results:
- Both cigarette cravings and chocolate cravings significantly increased after respective cue exposures (p<.0001).
- The increase in chocolate cravings post-cue was significantly correlated with the increase in cigarette cravings post-cue (r=0.38; p<.0001).
- Increased chocolate cravings also correlated with retrospective self-report measures of daily cue-induced food cravings.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the existence of a general cue-reactive phenotype that varies among individuals.
- This phenotype may represent a shared vulnerability for various hedonically mediated behaviors with negative health outcomes.
- The identified cue-reactive phenotype could guide the development of more effective, personalized interventions for addiction and related behaviors.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Drug Dependence
Medications are typically administered to achieve therapeutic effects. Some drugs can modify an individual's mood and perception, frequently resulting in various enjoyable experiences. However, this can result in drug dependency, a condition marked by continuous drug use despite potential negative consequences. Drug dependency primarily falls into two categories: psychological and physical dependence. Psychological dependence occurs when the pleasurable feelings induced by the drug...
01:23Drugs Acting on Autonomic Ganglia: Stimulants
Ganglionic stimulants activate NM nicotinic receptors in autonomic ganglia, falling into two categories: nicotine mimetics [e.g., lobeline, dimethylpiperazine, tetramethylammonium] and muscarinic receptor agonists [e.g., muscarine, methacholine]. The first category's action is rapid and blocked by nicotinic receptor antagonists, while the second category's action is delayed and blocked by atropine-like agents. Nicotine, an alkaloid, affects the heart rate by stimulating sympathetic or...
01:53Cause and Effect
While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
01:29Stimulants
Stimulants are substances that enhance neural activity and elevate dopamine levels in the brain, leading to their highly addictive nature. These drugs include cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA, caffeine, and nicotine, each with distinct mechanisms of action and varied health implications.
Cocaine can be administered via snorting, injection, or smoking. It primarily functions by blocking the reuptake of dopamine, resulting in a euphoric high characterized by an intense sensation of happiness and...
Cocaine can be administered via snorting, injection, or smoking. It primarily functions by blocking the reuptake of dopamine, resulting in a euphoric high characterized by an intense sensation of happiness and...
01:27CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine
Ethanol, a clear colorless alcohol, has been consumed by humans for millennia, but its effects on the body are far from benign. At lower doses, it induces decreased inhibitions and loquaciousness, leading to its social appeal. However, it can cause severe consequences at higher doses, such as coma and respiratory depression, due to its zero-order elimination kinetics. Chronic ethanol abuse wreaks havoc on multiple organ systems, particularly the CNS and the liver. Abrupt cessation of ethanol...
01:14Conditioned Taste Aversion
Conditioned taste aversion, also known as sauce béarnaise syndrome, is a phenomenon in which an individual develops an aversion to a certain food taste following a negative experience, typically illness. This form of aversion is a type of classical conditioning in which the taste of the food (conditioned stimulus, CS) is associated with the experience of illness (unconditioned stimulus, UCS).
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single exposure...
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single exposure...