The Effect of Working Memory Load on Impulsivity During Smoking Abstinence: An Eye-Tracking Study

Determining the cognitive processes involved in maintaining tobacco use is an important step toward explaining the nature of addiction. Studies have found that young smokers are more impulsive than nonsmokers. Working memory (WM) is needed to prevent and control impulsivity in unwanted situations.

This study examined the relationship between WM capacity and impulsivity and how WM load influences impulsive decision making with smokers, nonsmokers, and abstinent participants (n_total = 36) with an experimental dual-task. Participants completed the N-back (WM) and delay discounting (DD-impulsivity) tasks simultaneously, whilst their eye movements were recorded.

The results showed accuracy in the n-back task reduced as n increased, there was no evidence of delay discounting in any of the groups. There was no correlation of WMC and trait impulsivity. Participants' first fixation durations, indicating attention and information processing, increased with increasing WM load. All participants had shorter first fixation durations on proximal rewards than on distal rewards and revisited proximal rewards more.

Participants may change their attentional strategies under WM load, and different attentional processes measured by eye movements may be an indicator of impulsivity.