Purdue researchers study
causes of nicotine addiction
By Anna Herkamp
Summer
Reporter
This summer, daily smokers are earning money by
smoking for a research program aimed at studying triggering factors
of cigarette addiction.
The Purdue Smoking Project, funded by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, may lead to greater understanding about drug
addiction.
According to Kate Cern, graduate student in the
School of Liberal Arts, the project is non-profit research study program
focusing on the investigation and understanding of the underlying mechanisms
of craving for cigarettes.
Approximately 200 people have participated so far,
said Cern. Most have been community members and not as many are Purdue
students. However, students are welcome to participate in the study
as long as they are daily smokers 18 years old or older, she said.
Participants are paid $60 for their help with the
project.
Participants in the study come in for two sessions,
24 hours apart. In the first session, they fill out some questionnaires
and there is a chance they are asked to not smoke for 24 hours.
The second session entails most of the study in
which participants take part in one of two two-hour sessions.
In addition to the $60, the participants are also
paid for the cigarettes they smoke, said Cern.
Cern said the main focus of the two-hour sessions
is to understand underlying factors of craving. This is accomplished
by studying the factors that trigger daily smokers to smoke.
The smokers are presented with certain "cues" that
may or may not trigger a craving. Examples of cues are a burning cigarette
or a glass of water. The smokers are exposed to each and are asked to
record their cravings on a scale rating most amount of craving to least
amount of craving.
Stephen Tiffany, professor of psychological sciences
and head of the research study, said researchers don't know too much
about craving triggers in the environment.
Understanding what makes a person want to smoke
cigarettes is a key factor in understanding addiction, he said. Studies
such as this one are used to gather information about drug addiction
in general, he said.
An example Tiffany gave of environmental triggers
is if a person who hasn't smoked in a day goes into a smoke-filled bar,
are they more enticed to smoke as opposed to a smoker who hasn't gone
a day without smoking?
"If you believe you can't smoke a cigarette for
24 hours, and you are confronted with cues, are you more reactive to
an environment with smoke cues?" is the main question he asks in his
research.
Another twist in the study is that the study actually
presents people with different situations. Some people know they can
have a drag of a cigarette, and others know they can not, he said.
For other people there is a 50 percent chance they
can have a drag and a 50 percent chance they cannot.
In all three situations, the person is asked to
rate their craving via computer keyboard.
The reason for this type of study is "scientists
need to be able to study craving in a laboratory," said Tiffany.
"Craving is a prominent feature of drug addiction.
Despite it's importance, we know very little about it," he said.
Other studies similar to this one are planned to
study addiction to substances such as cocaine and alcohol. Tiffany said
it is possible and legal to give cocaine addicts cocaine in a controlled
lab setting.
Data recorded by the researchers includes heart
rate, sweating and mood, said Tiffany.
Tiffany and fellow researchers just published a
study that rendered very interesting results. He said it found that
the more a person knows he or she can smoke a cigarette, the higher
their craving. The less they know they can smoke, the lower the craving.
In order to balance the research, the study also
presents smokers with a glass of water and asks them to rate their craving
for a cigarette when presented with a "non-smoking cue."
· For more information about the study, call
the Purdue Smoking Project at 494-5865. The project will continue until
Aug. 31.
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