Probing the behavioral and neurophysiological effects of acute smoking abstinence on drug and nondrug reinforcement during a cognitive task

Introduction: Smoking abstinence is theorized to increase smoking reinforcement and decrease nondrug reinforcement. A separate literature demonstrates the detrimental effects of abstinence on cognition. The present study integrates these two areas by examining the separate and combined effects of reinforcement and smoking abstinence on behavior and a neurophysiological index of response monitoring (ie, error-related negativity [ERN]) during a cognitive task. Methods: After a screening visit, adult smokers attended two laboratory visits, once while smoking and once while abstinent. Participants completed a flanker task under cigarette-, money-, and noreinforcement conditions. The initial 15 participants had an easier reaction time (RT) requirement; to ensure sufficient error rates for ERN computation, a harder RT deadline was employed for the remaining 21 participants. Results: Smoking abstinence reduced speeded accuracy and ERN amplitude only among participants tested with the harder RT deadline. Cigarette and money reinforcement each increased speeded accuracy and ERN amplitude compared to no reinforcement. The effect of cigarette reinforcement tended to be greater during abstinence for speeded accuracy but not the ERN. The effect of money reinforcement was unaffected by abstinence. Conclusions: The impact of smoking abstinence on reinforcement may depend on task demands. However, the effects of cigarette and money reinforcement generalize well from operant paradigms to cognitive tasks, fostering integration between the two literatures. Results provided modest evidence of abstinence-induced increases in smoking reinforcement; the absence of abstinence - induced reductions in nondrug reinforcement is consistent with recent work in suggesting that such effects are limited to a subset of sensory reinforcers. Implications: This study draws attention to the need for greater integration of reinforcement and cognition to better understand the mechanisms that contribute to smoking relapse. Results emphasize thoughtful consideration of the nature of the nondrug reinforcer(s) included in the study of smoking abstinence in addition to the levels of cognitive demand impacted by acute smoking abstinence.