Cue labeling reduces cigarette craving and associated neural activity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Cigarette craving, often triggered by environmental cues, is a major barrier to smoking cessation.
• Affect labeling, a cognitive emotion regulation strategy, involves using words to describe emotional experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of adapting affect labeling for regulating cue-induced cigarette craving.
• To examine the neural mechanisms underlying cue-induced craving and its regulation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

• Fifty daily smokers completed a novel Cue Labeling Task during fMRI, involving viewing smoking-related cues under different labeling conditions (cue matching, cue labeling, gender labeling, neutral matching).
• Participants rated their craving levels in each condition.
• Brain activity was measured using fMRI, with a focus on the precuneus region.

Main Results:

• Cue labeling significantly reduced self-reported cigarette craving compared to cue matching.
• Cue labeling also led to decreased activation in the precuneus, a brain region implicated in craving.
• Age moderated the effects, with older adults (≥46.7 years) showing greater reductions in craving and precuneus activity.

Conclusions:

• Cue labeling is a potentially effective and scalable self-regulation strategy for reducing cigarette craving and associated neural activity.
• The findings suggest that affect labeling can be a valuable tool in smoking cessation interventions, particularly for older adult populations.