title: Effect of tryptophan depletion on the attentional salience of smoking cues.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is increasing evidence linking cigarette craving and smoking behavior to serotonergic neurotransmission.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of a serotonergic challenge on the attentional salience of various cues associated with cigarettes. We hypothesized that cigarette-related word cues would be more distracting after acute tryptophan depletion than after a placebo challenge. We also hypothesized that smokers vulnerable to recurrent depression would show greater attentional bias towards these cues than smokers without a history of depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-four smokers diagnosed as having (n = 15) or lacking (n = 19) a history of DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD) underwent acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) and placebo challenges in double-blind and counterbalanced order 1 week apart. Five hours after consumption of each mixture, subjects completed a modified Stroop task to measure attentional bias to smoking-related, positive affect, and negative affect word cues. Stroop interference was calculated as a difference score between latencies for the motivationally salient and the neutral (furniture) word lists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Controlling for change in dysphoric mood from baseline to 5 h, repeated measures MANOVAs showed that ATD, as compared to placebo challenge, produced greater interference for smoking word cues [F(1,29)=4.15, p = 0.05], but not for negative [F(1,29)=2.78, p = 0.11] or positive [F(1,29)=1.60, p = 0.22] affect word cues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acutely compromising central serotonergic neurotransmission via ATD heightens the attentional salience of cigarette-related cues, perhaps by triggering reward and motivational deficits underlying nicotine dependence.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, Brown Medical School, The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA. Brian_Hitsman@Brown.edu
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hitsman
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spring
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pingitore
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munafò
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hedeker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D012701:Serotonin; D014364:Tryptophan