Regulation of Craving by Mindfulness Strategies in Cigarettes Smokers
Poster No:
2315
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Ming Zheng1, Tiantian Hong1, Eric Garland2, Yuzheng Hu1
Institutions:
1Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 2University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Cue-induced craving which can be defined as an intense and acute desire(Tiffany & Wray, 2012). Researched have firmly established the direct link between cue-induced craving and substance use (Kober & Mell, 2015). Mindfulness training (MT) has gained significant attention in recent years for its potential in alleviating cigarette cravings (Tapper, 2018). However, the mechanisms underlying its efficacy remain inadequately understood (Brewer et al., 2013). The present mechanistic experiment aims to investigate the impact of a mindfulness strategy in regulating cue-induced craving and smoking cue-reactivity in the brains of nicotine dependent smokers. We hypothesized that in comparison to a passive viewing condition, participants will experience reduced levels of craving when employing the mindfulness strategy and the activation of rewarded related brain regions like Ventral striatum (VS), insula, amygdala would be lower.
Methods:
Twenty-nine smokers were recruited, who reported smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day and had at minimum of 2 years of smoking experience. Four participants were excluded due to equipment issues, one participant was excluded due to failure to respond to the ROC task, one participant was excluded due to large head motion. The final group consisted of 23 participants (all men) aged between 19 and 43 (M = 24.87 years; SD = 5.77).
In the ROC task of fMRI scan, participants were instructed to employ two strategies when presented with a series of smoking-related cue images. Participants were instructed to apply a mindfulness technique when confronted with cue stimuli in the MINDFULNESS strategy and simply observe the images and passively consider their immediate feelings about the smoking image in the LOOK strategy. Then, participants proceeded to self-report their level of craving and provided corresponding ratings on a Likert-type five-point scale. Two experimental conditions were administered: MINDFULNESS-cigarette (mind-cigarette), LOOK-cigarette(look-cigarette) (Figure 1).
The task fMRI data underwent several preprocessing steps, including slice timing, realign, spatial normalization, and smooth (FWHM= 5mm). Finite Impulse Response (FIR) model was used to obtain the series of activation maps. The time window of interest was defined as the onset of image cues. A total of 12 time points of activation maps of mind-cigarette, look-cigarette were obtained.
We categorized the first five trials of each block of condition in the ROC task as the "Early Phase", and the last five trials of each block as the "Late Phase" to explore whether there are fluctuations in craving scores over time.
In the ROC task of fMRI scan, participants were instructed to employ two strategies when presented with a series of smoking-related cue images. Participants were instructed to apply a mindfulness technique when confronted with cue stimuli in the MINDFULNESS strategy and simply observe the images and passively consider their immediate feelings about the smoking image in the LOOK strategy. Then, participants proceeded to self-report their level of craving and provided corresponding ratings on a Likert-type five-point scale. Two experimental conditions were administered: MINDFULNESS-cigarette (mind-cigarette), LOOK-cigarette(look-cigarette) (Figure 1).
The task fMRI data underwent several preprocessing steps, including slice timing, realign, spatial normalization, and smooth (FWHM= 5mm). Finite Impulse Response (FIR) model was used to obtain the series of activation maps. The time window of interest was defined as the onset of image cues. A total of 12 time points of activation maps of mind-cigarette, look-cigarette were obtained.
We categorized the first five trials of each block of condition in the ROC task as the "Early Phase", and the last five trials of each block as the "Late Phase" to explore whether there are fluctuations in craving scores over time.
Results:
The results of 2 (condition: mind-cigarette and look-cigarette) × 2 (phase: early, late) repeated ANOVA showed there was a significant interaction of the craving scores between condition and phase. Post hoc comparison showed that the craving scores of late phase of look-cigarette was significantly higher than the craving scores of early phase of look-cigarette condition.
The FIR results showed that significant main effects of conditions (mind-cigarette, look-cigarette) were mainly found at the bilateral insula, ventral striatum (VS) and amygdala, etc. The activations (β) in look-cigarette condition of these regions were higher than it in mind-cigarette condition.
A significant interaction of condition and phase were mainly found in the Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Post hoc comparison showed that the activation of late phase in mind-cigarette was significantly higher than the activation of early phase in mind-cigarette condition (Figure 2).
The FIR results showed that significant main effects of conditions (mind-cigarette, look-cigarette) were mainly found at the bilateral insula, ventral striatum (VS) and amygdala, etc. The activations (β) in look-cigarette condition of these regions were higher than it in mind-cigarette condition.
A significant interaction of condition and phase were mainly found in the Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Post hoc comparison showed that the activation of late phase in mind-cigarette was significantly higher than the activation of early phase in mind-cigarette condition (Figure 2).
Conclusions:
The decreased scores of cravings and reduced activations in bilateral insula, VS, and amygdala suggest that mindfulness may effectively mitigate cue-induced craving and attenuate the activation of reward-related brain regions. The enhanced activation of vmPFC during mindfulness practice may indicate its potential to enhance self-awareness and regulate emotions.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Reward and Punishment
Emotion and Motivation Other
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI) 2
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI 1
Keywords:
Addictions
MRI
Other - Mindfulness; Craving
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Drummond, D. C. (2001), 'Theories of drug craving, ancient and modern', Addiction, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 33–46.
Kober, H., (2015), 'Neural Mechanisms Underlying Craving and the Regulation of Craving', In The Wiley Handbook on the Cognitive Neuroscience of Addiction, pp. 195–218.
May, J. (2015), 'The elaborated intrusion theory of desire: a 10-year retrospective and implications for addiction treatments', Addictive Behaviors, vol. 44, pp. 29–34.
Pelchat, M. L. (2002), 'Of human bondage: food craving, obsession, compulsion, and addiction', Physiology & Behavior, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 347–352.
Tapper, K. (2018), 'Mindfulness and craving: effects and mechanisms', In Clinical Psychology Review, vol. 59, pp. 101–117.
Tiffany, S. T. (2012), 'The clinical significance of drug craving', Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1248, no. 1, pp. 1–17.