Abstract
BackgroundElectronic cigarettes (e-cigs) as substitute devices for regular tobacco cigarettes (r-cigs) have been increasing in recent times. We investigated neuronal substrates of vaping e-cigs and smoking r-cigs from r-cig smokers.MethodsTwenty-two r-cig smokers made two visits following overnight smoking cessation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired while participants watched smoking images. Participants were then allowed to smoke either an e-cig or r-cig until satiated and fMRI data were acquired. Their craving levels and performance on the Montreal Imaging Stress Task and a 3-back alphabet/digit recognition task were obtained and analyzed using two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. Regions-of-interest (ROIs) were identified by comparing the abstained and satiated conditions. Neuronal activation within ROIs was regressed on the craving and behavioral data separately.ResultsCraving was more substantially reduced by smoking r-cigs than by vaping e-cigs. The response time (RT) for the 3-back task was significantly shorter following smoking r-cigs than following vaping e-cigs (interaction: F (1, 17) = 5.3, p = 0.035). Neuronal activations of the right vermis (r = 0.43, p = 0.037, CI = [-0.05, 0.74]), right caudate (r = 0.51, p = 0.015, CI = [0.05, 0.79]), and right superior frontal gyrus (r = −0.70, p = 0.001, CI = [−0.88, −0.34]) were significantly correlated with the RT for the 3-back task only for smoking r-cigs.ConclusionOur findings suggest that insufficient satiety from vaping e-cigs for r-cigs smokers may be insignificant effect on working memory function.
Highlights
Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of disease, a variety of cancers, and other illnesses
Our findings suggest that insufficient satiety from vaping e-cigs for r-cigs smokers may be insignificant effect on working memory function
A significant interaction effect between the cigarette type and time was observed for the craving-related measurements such as the carbon monoxide (CO) levels, craving score (CRS), Questionnaire on Smoking Urges (QSU)-F1/Total, and SJWS craving/psychological sections, possibly due to the substantial reduction in the craving levels for the r-cigs compared to the e-cigs
Summary
Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of disease, a variety of cancers, and other illnesses. The use of the electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), a tobacco-free supplemental nicotine device, has recently become a widespread method of smoking cessation (Eastwood et al, 2015; Ramo et al, 2015; Mirbolouk et al, 2018). Many behavioral and sociological studies have reported e-cig use on the urge to smoke (Bullen et al, 2010; Dawkins et al, 2013; Kim and Selya, 2020). E-cig use may significantly reduce the desire to smoke, but to a lesser extent than regular tobacco cigarettes (r-cigs) (Bullen et al, 2010). Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) as substitute devices for regular tobacco cigarettes (r-cigs) have been increasing in recent times. We investigated neuronal substrates of vaping e-cigs and smoking r-cigs from r-cig smokers
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