Investigation of Cigarette Cravings in Smokers

Tobacco Use Clinical Trial

Official title: Investigating Stress-Potentiated Memory Updating as a Novel Intervention for Non-Treatment Seeking Smokers

Status Active, not recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

Interventions to disrupt memory reconsolidation have held promise for the treatment of stress- and anxiety-related disorders. In the present study, the investigators will examine whether an intervention based on these principles, called memory updating, could be adapted for reward-seeking behaviors. To test this, non-treatment seeking tobacco smokers will be exposed to smoking cues and/or stress, two stimuli known to trigger smoking. It is predicted that exposure to a stress task will enhance the cues' motivational salience and yield greater susceptibility to the memory updating procedure.

As an add-on, the investigators will examine COVID-associated changes in substance use and whether participants in the memory updating groups might be more resilient to these effects. It is predicted that the changes in substance use will depend on whether the substances are used primarily in social settings.

Clinical Trial Description

Non-treatment seeking cigarette dependent smokers will be randomized to one of four testing conditions: 1) a non-stressful task followed by neutral cues, 2) the non-stressful task followed by smoking cues, 3) a stressful task followed by neutral cues, or 4) the stressful task followed by smoking cues. Ten minutes after the intervention, participants will undergo a 60-minute extinction procedure consisting of smoking-related videos, images and smoking paraphernalia. Cue reactivity test sessions will take place 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks following the intervention.

COVID-associated changes in substance use will be quantified over three telephone interviews:

one at the end of March / beginning of April 2020 (at the start of the pandemic), one at the end of April / beginning of May, and a final one which will be instituted if feasible once the infection rates and social distancing policies have decreased. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Addiction Nicotine
• Behavior, Addictive
• Cigarette Smoking
• Tobacco Use

• NCT number: NCT04843969
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 20, 2018
• Completion date: January 31, 2022