Associations between affect, craving, and smoking in Korean smokers: An ecological momentary assessment study.

Cigarette smoking remains the largest cause of preventable death in the United States and worldwide. In South Korea and other Asian countries, a large proportion of males smoke, increasing the need to examine cigarette smoking in these populations. Research suggests that the association between positive affect and negative affect, and between affect and craving, may differ across cultures, and that it is useful to examine these associations using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). South Korean smokers (N = 20, Mean Age = 21.15, 25% female) completed baseline questionnaires and downloaded an EMA app which prompted 4 random assessments (RAs) each day for 1-week. At each assessment, participants responded to items assessing momentary negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA), craving, and number of cigarettes smoked since the previous EMA assessment. Linear mixed models (LMMs) were used to analyze EMA data (544 assessments), separating out between- and within- subject associations. There was a significant positive association between positive affect and negative affect at the between-subjects level. Both positive affect and negative affect were significantly positively associated with craving at between-subjects and within-subject levels. Craving was associated with subsequent smoking behavior at the within-subjects level. Overall, results suggest that associations between positive affect and negative affect may be different in South Korean smokers than in Western smokers, and that there are robust associations between both negative and positive affect and craving.

Effect of hypnotic suggestion on cognition and craving in smokers.

Cigarette smoking remains an important public health concern, and novel smoking cessation interventions are needed. Craving for cigarettes is a well-established target for intervention. Recent research has identified cognitive processes associated with craving, such as attentional bias to smoking cues, as targets for intervention. One intervention that may be effective in reducing attentional bias is hypnotic suggestion. Using a counterbalanced within-subjects design in a sample of active smokers (N = 33), this laboratory study examined if hypnotic suggestion can modify attention, assessed by the classic and smoking Stroop tasks, and craving. Hypnotic susceptibility was assessed using the Stanford Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. There was no evidence that hypnotic susceptibility moderated the effect of hypnotic suggestion on the classic or smoking Stroop effects. However, hypnotic susceptibility did moderate the effect of hypnotic suggestion on craving, such that hypnotic suggestion reduced craving in individuals with high levels of susceptibility. Further research into the mechanisms by which hypnotic suggestion reduces craving is warranted.

Ecological momentary assessment studies of comorbid PTSD and alcohol use: A narrative review.

INTRODUCTION: PTSD and harmful alcohol use, including alcohol use disorder (AUD), frequently co-occur. Recent research has used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine the associations between PTSD symptoms and alcohol-related variables, such as craving for alcohol, alcohol use, and the presence of alcohol-related problems. The overall purpose of this narrative review is to summarize this emerging literature. METHODS: Inclusion criteria for studies were: 1) Use of ecological momentary assessment as the method for gathering data on alcohol use and/or craving in populations with both problematic alcohol use and PTSD, and the inclusion of an assessment of both PTSD symptoms and at least one alcohol use variable during EMA; and 2) At screening, participants were required to meet study criteria for a) elevated PTSD symptoms or trauma exposure, and b) alcohol use. RESULTS: The pertinent extant literature is reviewed in terms of four underlying themes: Methodological considerations of EMA research in a population with PTSD symptoms and harmful alcohol use; Associations between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use variable/s; Moderators of PTSD-alcohol use associations; Mediators of PTSD-alcohol use associations. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, studies provide support for the self-medication hypothesis. Several variables were found to moderate association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol-related variables. EMA data may ultimately be useful in identifying when individuals are at risk for harm due to increased symptoms or alcohol misuse and may inform treatment approaches administered remotely.

Solar capillaritis as a cause of solar purpura.

Appearance of purpura acutely after sun exposure is rare. We report a 51-year-old woman who repeatedly developed an asymptomatic petechial eruption on her legs after strong sun exposure. Investigation found an action spectrum within the ultraviolet A waveband, and histological examination of an evoked lesion found features of capillaritis. We briefly review the literature on solar purpura, and suggest that it is a feature of several distinct conditions, rather than a single condition.

Study of crib-biting and gastric inflammation and ulceration in young horses.

Nineteen young horses that had recently started to perform the stereotypy of crib-biting were compared with 16 non-stereotypic horses for 14 weeks. After initial observations of their behaviour and an endoscopic examination of the condition of their stomachs, the horses were randomly allocated to a control or an antacid diet At the start of the trial, the stomachs of the crib-biting foals were significantly more ulcerated and inflamed than the stomachs of the normal foals. In addition, the faecal pH of the crib-biting foals (6.05) was significantly lower than that of the normal foals (6.58). The antacid diet resulted in a significant improvement in the condition of the horses' stomachs. The crib-biting behaviour declined in most of the foals, regardless of their diet, but tended to decline to a greater extent in the foals on the antacid diet.

Factors influencing the development of stereotypic and redirected behaviours in young horses: findings of a four year prospective epidemiological study.

Stereotypies are invariant and repetitive behaviour patterns that seemingly have no function, which tend to develop in captive animals faced with insoluble problems and may be indicative of reduced welfare. A 4 year prospective study of the factors influencing the development of stereotypic and redirected behaviours (abnormal behaviour) in a population of 225 young Thoroughbred and part-Thoroughbred horses was conducted between 1995 and 1999. Abnormal behaviour affected 34.7% of the population. Multivariable analysis showed that foals of low- or middle-ranking mares were less likely to develop abnormal behaviour than foals of dominant mares (rate ratio (RR) 0.23, P<0.01; RR 0.48, P<0.01, respectively). Weaning by confinement in a stable or barn was associated with an increased rate of development of abnormal behaviour, compared with paddock-weaning (RR 2.19, P<0.05), and housing in barns, rather than at grass after weaning, was associated with a further increase (RR 2.54, P<0.01). Specific stereotypic and redirected behaviours were then considered as separate outcomes. Crib-biting was initiated by 10.5% of horses at median age 20 weeks, weaving by 4.6% of horses at median age 60 weeks, box-walking by 2.3% of horses at median age 64 weeks and wood-chewing by 30.3% of horses at median age 30 weeks. Wood-chewing developed at a lower rate in horses born to subordinate or mid-ranking mares than in horses born to dominant mares (RR 0.29, P<0.01; RR 0.41, P<0.01, respectively), and at a higher rate in horses kept in barns or stables rather than at grass after weaning (RR 4.49, P<0.001; RR 1A6, P<0.001, respectively). Feeding concentrates after weaning was associated with a 4-fold increase in the rate of development of crib-biting (RR 4.12, P = 0.02). The results of this study support the idea that simple changes in feeding, housing and weaning practices could substantially lower the incidence of abnormal behaviour in young horses.

Determinants and effects of attentional bias in smokers.

Much research has shown that individuals exhibit an attentional bias to stimuli related to their current concerns or pathologies. Using the emotional Stroop task, we investigated attentional bias in smokers. Ninety-six smokers either abstained from smoking for 24 hr or smoked normally before color-naming smoking-related and neutral words. Both a blocked format (smoking and neutral words presented in separate blocks) and an unblocked format (smoking and neutral words presented in a mixed random sequence) were used. In the blocked format, abstinence caused an attentional bias to smoking-related stimuli, and the degree of attentional bias predicted the latency to the first cigarette of the morning. However, different results were obtained from the unblocked version of the task. We conclude that the emotional Stroop task is a useful tool to measure attentional bias in smokers and could be used in cessation studies.

Direct and indirect effects of nicotine/smoking on cognition in humans.

Acute nicotine administration and acute nicotine withdrawal have been shown to have effects on mood, arousal, and cognition in humans. However, given what is known about the interrelationships between mood, arousal, and cognition in the psychology literature, it is unclear to what extent these effects on a given response are direct, or mediated through other responses (indirect). This article discusses this issue with particular emphasis on the question of whether nicotine has direct effects on cognition. Five ways are suggested as to how this question can be resolved, the relevant literature is reviewed, and some research ideas are proposed.

Studying expertise in music reading: use of a pattern-matching paradigm.

Two experiments are described that make use of a pattern-matching paradigm to investigate perceptual processing of music notation. In Experiment 1, it is reported that the speed of comparing two visually presented musical sequences is related to the sight-reading skill of the subjects. The effect of the temporal and pitch structure of the comparison stimuli is also assessed. In Experiment 2, eye-movement recordings were taken as subjects performed the task. These data demonstrated that more experienced musicians are able to perform the comparisons with fever, and shorter, glances between the patterns. These and other findings suggest that skilled sight-reading is associated with an ability to rapidly perceive notes or groups of notes in the score, and confirm that the pattern-matching paradigm is a useful tool in examining expertise in music reading.

Inhibitory effects evoked from both the lateral and ventrolateral periaqueductal grey are selective for the nociceptive responses of rat dorsal horn neurones.

In rats anaesthetized with alphaxalone/alphadolone a comparative study was made of the inhibitory effects on dorsal horn neurones evoked by chemical stimulation at identified pressor and depressor sites in the lateral and ventrolateral periaqueductal grey (PAG). Stimulating micropipettes were inserted stereotaxically into the lateral or ventrolateral PAG at sites where microinjection of DL-homocysteic acid (DLH) evoked increases or decreases respectively in mean arterial blood pressure. The effects of DLH microinjection at these sites were tested against the responses of dorsal horn neurones to noxious and innocuous stimuli applied to their cutaneous receptive fields. Single unit extracellular recordings were made from 15 Class 1 (low-threshold) and 37 Class 2 (wide dynamic range) dorsal horn neurones in laminae II-VI of the lower lumbar spinal cord. The responses of Class 1 neurones to innocuous prodding of their receptive fields were unaffected by neuronal activation in either the lateral or ventrolateral PAG. The nociceptive (noxious pinch/heat) responses of most Class 2 neurones were strongly inhibited by chemical stimulation in either sector of the PAG. The low threshold (prod) responses of the same neurones were generally unaffected or only weakly inhibited by identical stimulation, regardless of stimulation site. No significant differences were found between the effects of lateral vs. ventrolateral PAG stimulation on the responses of dorsal horn neurones. These results do not support the view that dorsal horn neurones may be inhibited with different selectivities by hyper- and hypotensive regions of the PAG.

Hepatitis C (HCV)-positive blood donors in south-west England: a case control study.

The aim of this study was to compare the socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors in anti-HCV positive blood donors with those of matched controls. The participants were 50 hepatitis C antibody (HCV) positive blood donors and 50 matched blood donors with no evidence of HCV infection, who gave blood to the South Western Transfusion Centre between November 1991 and July 1992. A confidential structured interview was conducted to collect socio-demographic data and to elicit information on risk factors for HCV. Measurements were made of the prevalence of risk factors and socio-demographic characteristics in cases and controls. The main results were that 45 of the 50 cases could have been exposed to HCV by previous intravenous drug abuse (IVDA), blood transfusion or medical employment. Cases were significantly more likely to have a history of IVDA, tattooing or of medical employment than matched controls. Cases with no history of IVDA were significantly more likely to have had a blood transfusion. The key conclusions to emerge are that current policies are ineffective at excluding those with a history of IVDA from the donor pool. Consideration should be given to the introduction of a policy of direct confidential questioning about risk factors for all donors, or, at a minimum, the use of a questionnaire.

Benzodiazepines and their antagonists: a pharmacoethological analysis with particular reference to effects on "aggression".

A review of the literature on chlordiazepoxide indicates that the traditional view of benzodiazepines as antiaggressive drugs represents an inaccurate generalization. In fact, highly variable findings have been reported with the most significant factor in the variability being the type of aggression studied. Furthermore, considerable controversy surrounds the nature of chlordiazepoxide's influence on social conflict in rodents, with opinion divided regarding the selectivity of its inhibitory effect on offensive responding. It is argued that inappropriate behavioural methodology may have substantially contributed to this controversy. A pharmacoethological approach to the analysis of drug effects on social behaviour is described and exemplified by new data on chlordiazepoxide and midazolam. Both agents inhibit offense at doses which do not result in general response inhibition, yet their overall behavioural profiles are somewhat different. Evidence is also presented indicating low dose behavioural activity of the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro15-1788 in two test situations and suggesting possible differences in the effects of Ro15-1788 and CGS8216 on novelty-related responding. Several avenues of research are discussed which may yield insights into the manner whereby benzodiazepines influence social patterns and the significance of benzodiazepine-GABA interactions in such processes.

Effects of the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 on social and agonistic behaviour in male albino mice.

In view of recently reported low-dose behavioural activity of Ro 15-1788, the present study examined the effects of this benzodiazepine antagonist on social and agonistic behaviours in adult male albino mice. Using a resident-intruder paradigm, independent pharmacological manipulation of interactants and pharmaco-ethological analysis, our data demonstrate significant behavioural effects of Ro 15-1788 in benzodiazepine-naive animals. In residents, treatment with the antagonist (1.25, 2.5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, IP) resulted in dose-related increases in offensive threat behaviour and reduced olfactory investigation. However, 5 mg/kg exerted no detectable behavioural action in these animals. In intruders, behavioural effects were observed only with 1.25 mg/kg Ro 15-1788, and consisted of a profile suggestive of reduced defensiveness. In both experiments, the behaviour of untreated opponents confirmed the existence of drug-induced behavioural changes in their partners. It is argued that present data are not inconsistent with the existence of putative endogenous benzodiazepine-like ligands and that the differential effects of Ro 15-1788 in residents (singly-housed) and intruders (grouped) suggest one possible explanation for previous failures to detect low-dose behavioural activity with this compound.

Evidence for intrinsic behavioural activity of the benzodiazepine antagonist, Ro15-1788, in male mice.

It would be predicted that putative benzodiazepine should be released under anxiety-provoking conditions and that behavioural changes should be observed following pretreatment with selective antagonists of the benzodiazepine receptor. To test this hypothesis, adult male albino mice were briefly exposed to a novel, brightly-illuminated arena during the dark phase of their LD cycle. Under these test conditions, Ro15-1788 (10 mg/kg) enhanced total rearing whilst, a 5-10 mg/kg, it significantly altered the normal pattern of rearing over the test session. However, at the highest dose tested (20 mg/kg), such behavioural changes were no longer apparent. A similar, though non-significant, trend was observed for locomotor activity. These data, the first to demonstrate-low-dose intrinsic activity of Ro15-1788 in mice, suggest that benzodiazepine antagonists may prove to be powerful tools in the study of the behavioural significance of the benzodiazepine receptor.

Naloxone partially antagonizes post-encounter analgesia and enhances defensive responding in male rats exposed to attack from lactating conspecifics.

Recent evidence indicates that inter-male conflict in mice, but not rats, results in opiate-like analgesia in defeated animals. To test the hypothesis that differences in attack intensity/controllability may underlie this apparent species difference, male rats were exposed to non-ritualized attack from lactating conspecifics. In response to such encounters, male intruders exhibited significant elevations in tail-flick latency. Pretreatment with low (0.1-1.0 mg/kg), but not high (10 mg/kg), doses of naloxone partially antagonized the development of post-encounter analgesia and enhanced several components of male defensiveness during encounters. These results suggest that exposure to attack from lactating conspecifics activates both opioid and nonopioid analgesia mechanisms in male intruders. Correlational analyses revealed, however, that intruder analgesia was not related to the number of attacks received or the display of submissive postures. Data are discussed with reference to the possible importance of psychological factors in the activation of endogenous pain inhibitory mechanisms in rats.