Effects of nicotine and depressive traits on affective priming of lateralized emotional word identification.

Abstract

Based on evidence suggesting that depressive traits, emotional information processing, and the effects of nicotine may be mediated by lateralized brain mechanisms, analyses assessed the influence of depressive traits and nicotine patch on emotional priming of lateralized emotional word identification in 61 habitual smokers. Consistent with hypotheses, nicotine as compared to placebo patch enhanced right visual field (RVF) emotional word identification while decreasing performance of emotional word identification in the left visual field (LVF). Nicotine also enhanced positive affect and decreased negative affect. Consistent with the Heller model of depression, scoring high in depressive traits was associated with a general decrease in LVF emotional word identification. Additionally, this general LVF deficit was especially pronounced for positive word identification in individuals scoring high in trait depression. Positive primes facilitated positive target identification in the RVF and negative primes facilitated negative target identification in the LVF. Thus, nicotine promoted a LVF word-identification deficit similar to that observed in those with depressive traits. However, nicotine also enhanced RVF processing and reduced negative affect, while it enhanced positive affect.

Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade eye-gaze away from emotional stimuli in nonsmokers stratified by pre-task baseline performance

“…The STAR model proposes that situational demands, hemispheric asymmetries in affective stimulus processing, and individual differences in executive capacity determine when and in whom nicotine will have beneficial effects. The finding that nicotine reduced RTs for negative stimuli presented to the RH in low baseline nonsmokers is also consistent with recent findings that nicotine can reduce attentional bias toward negative stimuli in nicotine-dependent smokers (Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). However, it is not clear why the medium BP group did not show this pattern of left VF (RH) sensitivity to negative targets.…”

“…Besides the use of emotional prime and target stimuli, the current study was different from previous ones in that it used nicotine patches that produce gradual rises in blood nicotine concentration and are very difficult or impossible for most subjects to identify as nicotine patches (Gilbert et al 2003; Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). The nicotine patches used by Petrovsky et al (2012) and most others in the field that are easily identified as containing nicotine by a great majority of subjects (Petrovsky et al 2012).…”

Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade eye-gaze away from emotional stimuli in nonsmokers stratified by pre-task baseline performance

“…The STAR model proposes that situational demands, hemispheric asymmetries in affective stimulus processing, and individual differences in executive capacity determine when and in whom nicotine will have beneficial effects. The finding that nicotine reduced RTs for negative stimuli presented to the RH in low baseline nonsmokers is also consistent with recent findings that nicotine can reduce attentional bias toward negative stimuli in nicotine-dependent smokers (Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). However, it is not clear why the medium BP group did not show this pattern of left VF (RH) sensitivity to negative targets.…”

“…Besides the use of emotional prime and target stimuli, the current study was different from previous ones in that it used nicotine patches that produce gradual rises in blood nicotine concentration and are very difficult or impossible for most subjects to identify as nicotine patches (Gilbert et al 2003; Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). The nicotine patches used by Petrovsky et al (2012) and most others in the field that are easily identified as containing nicotine by a great majority of subjects (Petrovsky et al 2012).…”

Depressive symptoms and responses to cigarette pack warning labels among Mexican smokers.

“…For example, nonsmokers with depressive symptoms have stronger neural responses to negative emotional information than those without DS (Felder et al, 2012). Among smokers, nicotine withdrawal promotes greater negative emotional interference on cognition (Froeliger et al, 2012; Gilbert et al, 2007)—the effects of which become worse with increasing levels of baseline depressive symptom severity (Froeliger et al, 2012; Gilbert et al, 2008). Furthermore, research on “depressive realism” suggests that persons with elevated DS engage in relatively more processing of negative information (Keller, Lipkus, & Rimer, 2002; Moore & Fresco, 2012).…”

Nicotine primes attention to competing affective stimuli in the context of salient alternatives.

“…Consistent with this hypothesis, nicotine has been found to increase reported positive affect and to decrease negative affect and to decrease attentional gaze directed to emotionally negative pictures presented in combination with positive pictures . Supporting its putative lateralized affect-modulating and attention-biasing effect (Gilbert, 1995), nicotine has been reported (Gilbert, Carlson, et al, 2008) to enhance the detection of salient emotional words presented to the left hemisphere when presented side-by-side with nonsalient (nonword) letter sequences, but to decrease the detection of such words presented to the right hemisphere. Robinson and Berridge (1993) suggested that nicotine alters the incentive salience of rewards and reinforcers and that of mediating neural systems, thereby making these stimuli more "attention grabbing."…”

Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade eye-gaze away from emotional stimuli in nonsmokers stratified by pre-task baseline performance

“…The STAR model proposes that situational demands, hemispheric asymmetries in affective stimulus processing, and individual differences in executive capacity determine when and in whom nicotine will have beneficial effects. The finding that nicotine reduced RTs for negative stimuli presented to the RH in low baseline nonsmokers is also consistent with recent findings that nicotine can reduce attentional bias toward negative stimuli in nicotine-dependent smokers (Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). However, it is not clear why the medium BP group did not show this pattern of left VF (RH) sensitivity to negative targets.…”

“…Besides the use of emotional prime and target stimuli, the current study was different from previous ones in that it used nicotine patches that produce gradual rises in blood nicotine concentration and are very difficult or impossible for most subjects to identify as nicotine patches (Gilbert et al 2003; Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). The nicotine patches used by Petrovsky et al (2012) and most others in the field that are easily identified as containing nicotine by a great majority of subjects (Petrovsky et al 2012).…”

Depressive symptoms and responses to cigarette pack warning labels among Mexican smokers.

“…For example, nonsmokers with depressive symptoms have stronger neural responses to negative emotional information than those without DS (Felder et al, 2012). Among smokers, nicotine withdrawal promotes greater negative emotional interference on cognition (Froeliger et al, 2012; Gilbert et al, 2007)—the effects of which become worse with increasing levels of baseline depressive symptom severity (Froeliger et al, 2012; Gilbert et al, 2008). Furthermore, research on “depressive realism” suggests that persons with elevated DS engage in relatively more processing of negative information (Keller, Lipkus, & Rimer, 2002; Moore & Fresco, 2012).…”

Nicotine primes attention to competing affective stimuli in the context of salient alternatives.

“…Consistent with this hypothesis, nicotine has been found to increase reported positive affect and to decrease negative affect and to decrease attentional gaze directed to emotionally negative pictures presented in combination with positive pictures . Supporting its putative lateralized affect-modulating and attention-biasing effect (Gilbert, 1995), nicotine has been reported (Gilbert, Carlson, et al, 2008) to enhance the detection of salient emotional words presented to the left hemisphere when presented side-by-side with nonsalient (nonword) letter sequences, but to decrease the detection of such words presented to the right hemisphere. Robinson and Berridge (1993) suggested that nicotine alters the incentive salience of rewards and reinforcers and that of mediating neural systems, thereby making these stimuli more "attention grabbing."…”

Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade eye-gaze away from emotional stimuli in nonsmokers stratified by pre-task baseline performance

“…The STAR model proposes that situational demands, hemispheric asymmetries in affective stimulus processing, and individual differences in executive capacity determine when and in whom nicotine will have beneficial effects. The finding that nicotine reduced RTs for negative stimuli presented to the RH in low baseline nonsmokers is also consistent with recent findings that nicotine can reduce attentional bias toward negative stimuli in nicotine-dependent smokers (Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). However, it is not clear why the medium BP group did not show this pattern of left VF (RH) sensitivity to negative targets.…”

“…Besides the use of emotional prime and target stimuli, the current study was different from previous ones in that it used nicotine patches that produce gradual rises in blood nicotine concentration and are very difficult or impossible for most subjects to identify as nicotine patches (Gilbert et al 2003; Gilbert, Rabinovich et al 2008). The nicotine patches used by Petrovsky et al (2012) and most others in the field that are easily identified as containing nicotine by a great majority of subjects (Petrovsky et al 2012).…”

Depressive symptoms and responses to cigarette pack warning labels among Mexican smokers.

“…For example, nonsmokers with depressive symptoms have stronger neural responses to negative emotional information than those without DS (Felder et al, 2012). Among smokers, nicotine withdrawal promotes greater negative emotional interference on cognition (Froeliger et al, 2012; Gilbert et al, 2007)—the effects of which become worse with increasing levels of baseline depressive symptom severity (Froeliger et al, 2012; Gilbert et al, 2008). Furthermore, research on “depressive realism” suggests that persons with elevated DS engage in relatively more processing of negative information (Keller, Lipkus, & Rimer, 2002; Moore & Fresco, 2012).…”

Nicotine primes attention to competing affective stimuli in the context of salient alternatives.

“…Consistent with this hypothesis, nicotine has been found to increase reported positive affect and to decrease negative affect and to decrease attentional gaze directed to emotionally negative pictures presented in combination with positive pictures . Supporting its putative lateralized affect-modulating and attention-biasing effect (Gilbert, 1995), nicotine has been reported (Gilbert, Carlson, et al, 2008) to enhance the detection of salient emotional words presented to the left hemisphere when presented side-by-side with nonsalient (nonword) letter sequences, but to decrease the detection of such words presented to the right hemisphere. Robinson and Berridge (1993) suggested that nicotine alters the incentive salience of rewards and reinforcers and that of mediating neural systems, thereby making these stimuli more "attention grabbing."…”