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. 2019 Jul 18:12:531-542.
doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S183394. eCollection 2019.

Connectivity between visual and auditory cortices mediates the influence of argument strength on the effectiveness of smoking-cessation videos among smokers low in sensation seeking

Zhenhao Shi  1 , An-Li Wang  2 , Catherine A Aronowitz  3 , Joseph N Cappella  4 , Daniel Romer  3 , Daniel D Langleben  1   3   5
Affiliations

Connectivity between visual and auditory cortices mediates the influence of argument strength on the effectiveness of smoking-cessation videos among smokers low in sensation seeking

Zhenhao Shi et al. Psychol Res Behav Manag. .

Abstract

Purpose: Argument strength (AS) is a validated measure of persuasiveness that has been identified as one of the key variables determining the effectiveness of video ads. Smoking-cessation videos with high AS are more effective at reducing smoking behavior than videos with low AS. The neural processes that mediate the effects of AS on subsequent smoking have not been identified. In the present study, we tested whether the efficacy of high-AS smoking-cessation videos is determined by the level of integration of visual and auditory (ie, multisensory) processes. In addition, we tested differences in sensation seeking, which is repeatedly associated with smokers' sensitivity to cessation interventions.

Patients and methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we recorded the brain response of 66 smokers randomly assigned to view either 16 high-AS or 16 low-AS smoking-cessation videos. Multisensory processing was assessed by the functional connectivity between brain regions that encoded visual and auditory information in the videos. Smoking behavior was indexed by the urine level of cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, immediately before and approximately 30 days after the fMRI session.

Results: We found a significant moderated mediation effect, such that the connectivity between visual and auditory cortices mediated the effect of AS on subsequent smoking, but only for smokers lower in sensation seeking. The prediction performance of the model was confirmed by leave-one-out cross-validation.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that audiovisual integration underlies the greater efficacy of high- vs low-AS smoking-cessation videos for individuals lower in sensation seeking. High-sensation-seeking smokers may be responsive to other characteristics of smoking-cessation videos.

Keywords: brain connectivity; functional magnetic resonance imaging; health communication; sensation seeking; smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Brain responses associated with the visual and auditory I2 scores (p<0.05 corrected for familywise error).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Upper panel: the moderated mediation model with sensation seeking moderating the indirect effect of argument strength on cotinine levels through visual-auditory cortical connectivity. Lower left panel: smokers who watched the high-argument strength (AS) videos showed greater connectivity between the visual and auditory cortices than those who watched the low-AS ones. Lower right panel: greater visual-auditory cortical connectivity (x-axis) was associated with reduced cotinine levels (y-axis) among smokers in the lower quartile but not higher quartile of sensation seeking.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Leave-one-out cross-validation showing that the moderated mediation model was predictive of follow-up cotinine levels with significantly smaller prediction error (ie, MSE) as compared to the null distribution of prediction error (MSEnull) obtained through 5,000 permutations. Green solid line: actual MSE value produced by the original data. Red dashed line: 5th percentile of the empirical MSEnull produced by permutation. Abbreviation: MSE, mean squared error of prediction.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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