Abstract
Rationale
A reduced willingness to perform effort based on the magnitude and probability of potential rewards has been associated with diminished dopamine function and may be relevant to chronic drug use.
Objectives
Here, we investigated the influence of smoking status on effort-based decisions. We hypothesized that smokers would make fewer high-effort selections than ex-smokers and never-smokers.
Methods
Current smokers (n = 25), ex-smokers (≥ 1 year quit, n = 23), and never-smokers (n = 19) completed the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task in which participants select between low-effort and high-effort options to receive monetary rewards at varying levels of reward magnitude, probability and expected value.
Results
Overall, participants selected more high-effort options as potential reward magnitude and expected value increased. Smokers did not make fewer high-effort selections overall, but smokers were less sensitive to the changes in magnitude, probability, and expected value compared to never-smokers. Smokers were also less sensitive to the changes in probability and expected value, but not magnitude, compared to ex-smokers. Among smokers and ex-smokers, less nicotine dependence was associated with an increased likelihood of high-effort selections.
Conclusions
These results demonstrate the relevance of smoking status to effort-based decisions and suggest that smokers have diminished sensitivity to nondrug reward value. Among ex-smokers, greater pre-existing sensitivity to reward value may have been conducive to smoking cessation, or sensitivity was improved by smoking cessation. Future prospective studies can investigate whether effort-related decision making is predictive of smoking initiation or cessation success.
Implications
Willingness to perform effort to achieve a goal and sensitivity to changes in reward value are important aspects of motivation. These results showed that smokers have decreased sensitivity to changes in effort-related reward probability and expected value compared to ex-smokers and never-smokers. Potentially, improved sensitivity to rewards among ex-smokers may be a cause or consequence of smoking cessation. These findings may help explain why some smokers are able to achieve long-term abstinence.
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Role of funding source
Funding provided by NIH NIDA K01 DA033347 and by the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, the major research component of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Michael Treadway for providing the EEfRT and Bryana Roberts and Deborah Hodges for help with data collection.
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Addicott, M.A., Wardle, M.C. & Selig, J.P. Effort-based decision making varies by smoking status. Psychopharmacology 237, 1081–1090 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05437-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05437-3