Content matters: neuroimaging investigation of brain and behavioral impact of televised anti-tobacco public service announcements

Abstract

Televised public service announcements are video ads that are a key component of public health campaigns against smoking. Understanding the neurophysiological correlates of anti-tobacco ads is an important step toward novel objective methods of their evaluation and design. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the brain and behavioral effects of the interaction between content ("argument strength," AS) and format ("message sensation value," MSV) of anti-smoking ads in humans. Seventy-one nontreatment-seeking smokers viewed a sequence of 16 high or 16 low AS ads during an fMRI scan. Dependent variables were brain fMRI signal, the immediate recall of the ads, the immediate change in intentions to quit smoking, and the urine levels of a major nicotine metabolite cotinine at a 1 month follow-up. Whole-brain ANOVA revealed that AS and MSV interacted in the inferior frontal, inferior parietal, and fusiform gyri; the precuneus; and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC). Regression analysis showed that the activation in the dMPFC predicted the urine cotinine levels 1 month later. These results characterize the key brain regions engaged in the processing of persuasive communications and suggest that brain fMRI response to anti-smoking ads could predict subsequent smoking severity in nontreatment-seeking smokers. Our findings demonstrate the importance of the quality of content for objective ad outcomes and suggest that fMRI investigation may aid the prerelease evaluation of televised public health ads.

Figure 1.

Performance of the Frame Recognition Task. y-axis: discrimination index (Pr). x-axis: High AS and Low AS group. AS by MSV interaction is significant (p = 0.05). Error bars indicate SEM.

Figure 2.

Brain regions associated with AS by MSV interaction and percentage BOLD signal change in these regions. Images: brain fMRI activation maps associated with AS by MSV interaction in the bilateral IPL (left IPL, x = 36, y = −44, z = 50; right IPL, x = 34, y = −41, z = 42), the left IFG (x = −38, y = 3, z = 20), left FG (x = −55, y = −65, z = −9), right dMPFC (x = 22, y = −31, z = 48), and right precuneus (x = 8, y = −46, z = 50). Surface visualization (CARET; http://brainvis.wustl.edu) represents voxelwise z-statistical maps thresholded at z = 3.1 (cluster corrected p < 0.001). Bar charts: BOLD signal change in the brain regions associated with AS by MSV interaction. y-axis: percentage BOLD signal change. x-axis (from left to right): high AS and low AS groups. Error bars indicate SEM. Significant AS by MSV interactions (p < 0.05) in each brain region are represented by asterisks.

Figure 3.

Left, dMPFC activation associated with AS by MSV interaction. Statistical map (yellow-red scale) is displayed over the MNI brain template and thresholded at z = 3.1 (cluster corrected at p < 0.001). Right, Correlation between percentage BOLD signal change in dMPFC and predicted cotinine levels at 1 month follow-up, adjusting for the baseline cotinine levels and AS groups.