title: Euphoriant effects of nicotine in smokers: fact or artifact?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The claim that nicotine in cigarettes is euphoriant to smokers is largely based on two studies (Pomerleau and Pomerleau, Psychopharmacology, 108:460-465, 1992; Tobacco Control, 3:374, 1994) in which smokers were instructed to respond to sensations of rush, buzz, or high while smoking low-nicotine or regular cigarettes. However, the assumption that these sensations are pleasurable was not tested and may have biased the results.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to re-examine the claim that smoked nicotine is euphoriant to smokers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study 1 surveyed the frequency and pleasantness of the smoking-related sensations of rush, buzz, and high in a sample of smokers. Study 2 replicated Pomerleau and Pomerleau (Psychopharmacology, 108:460-465, 1992) with two sets of instruction. One set, as in the original study, defined these sensations as pleasurable, whereas the other defined them as unpleasant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Study 1 found that whereas rush and high were perceived as pleasant, buzz was unpleasant to most smokers. Study 2 found that under both sets of instructions, smokers reported more sensations when smoking the regular, as compared to the low-nicotine cigarette. Additionally, the sensations of rush, buzz, and high were rated as more pleasant under the pleasant instructions as compared to the unpleasant instructions. Finally, in the pleasant instructions condition, many participants reported having pressed the button to indicate a pleasurable sensation despite having actually experienced that sensation as unpleasant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the findings of Pomerleau and Pomerleau (Psychopharmacology, 108:460-465, 1992; Tobacco Control, 3:374, 1994) may have been biased by the experimental instructions and cannot be taken as evidence that smoked nicotine is euphoriant to smokers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel. ruvidar@freud.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Reuven
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dar
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Lior
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shaham
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frenk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005059:Euphoria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005731:Ganglionic Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012677:Sensation / Q000187:drug effects*; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D005731:Ganglionic Stimulants; D009538:Nicotine