Individual differences in the processing of smoking-cessation video messages: An imaging genetics study

Abstract

Studies testing the benefits of enriching smoking-cessation video ads with attention-grabbing sensory features have yielded variable results. Dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) has been implicated in attention deficits. We hypothesized that DAT1 polymorphism is partially responsible for this variability. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined brain responses to videos high or low in attention-grabbing features, indexed by "message sensation value" (MSV), in 53 smokers genotyped for DAT1. Compared to other smokers, 10/10 homozygotes showed greater neural response to High- vs. Low-MSV smoking-cessation videos in two a priori regions of interest: the right temporoparietal junction and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. These regions are known to underlie stimulus-driven attentional processing. Exploratory analysis showed that the right temporoparietal response positively predicted follow-up smoking behavior indexed by urine cotinine. Our findings suggest that responses to attention-grabbing features in smoking-cessation messages is affected by the DAT1 genotype.

Keywords: Genetics; Health communication; Message sensation value; Smoking; fMRI.

Fig. 1

(A) Brain regions showing greater MSV effect in the 10/10 than non-10/10 participants. (B) Contrast values of High-MSV vs. Low-MSV. lTPJ/rTPJ: left/right temporoparietal junction; rVLPFC: right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex; rMTG: right middle temporal gyrus. Error bar: standard error of mean.

Fig. 2

(A) The rTPJ response to High-MSV vs. Low-MSV smoking-cessation videos was positively correlated with follow-up cotinine levels (adjusted for baseline). (B) Leave-one-out cross-validation showed that the rTPJ neural response was predictive of follow-up cotinine levels with significantly smaller prediction error (i.e. mean squared error of prediction, MSE) as compared to the null distribution of prediction error (MSE_null) obtained through 10,000 permutations (solid line: real MSE value produced by original data; dashed line: 5th percentile of the empirical MSE_null produced by permutation). rTPJ: right temporoparietal junction.