Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34166033›Full record

ArticleExperimental and clinical psychopharmacology2022

Reinforcement enhancement by nicotine: A novel abuse-liability assessment of e-cigarettes in young adults.

Ari P Kirshenbaum, John R Hughes

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Acute Effects of Nicotine on Non-Drug-Related Reward in Smokers and Non-Smokers.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025
    Trial
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Ari P KirshenbaumDepartment of Psychology, Saint Michael's College.ORCID 0000-0003-2147-0346
John R HughesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.ORCID 0000-0002-0092-9309

Funding

An experimental evaluation of e-cigarettes in young adults: Reinforcement enhancement and devaluation by nicotineR15DA043045 · NIDA · ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE · PI KIRSHENBAUM, ARI PHILLIP · 2017 to 2017
$366k
National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Drug AbuseNIDA NIH HHS R15 DA043045
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Nicotine can act as a primary positive reinforcer, and as negative reinforcer to relieve withdrawal; we tested whether it can also enhance the reinforcing efficacy of non-drug reinforcers. Young-adult never-users were delivered nicotine via e-cigarette, and a videogame reinforcer was used to test nicotine enhancement. Three dose groups were tested (placebo-only, 6 or 12-mg nicotine), and participants returned to the lab for several sessions over the course of 1 month. Those in the two nicotine-dose groups received placebo on some occasions and nicotine on others; nicotine enhancement of the videogame reinforcer was assessed in a within-subjects fashion by comparing each of the two nicotine groups' dedicated nicotine dose to placebo. In the placebo-only group, progressive-ratio (PR) schedule breakpoints did not alter as a function of videogame exposure, suggesting that the videogame retained its basic-reinforcing properties throughout the study. For the two groups that received nicotine, both doses of nicotine increased PR-schedule breakpoints for the videogame reinforcer relative to the placebo condition. Although nicotine was associated with greater subjective evaluation of the enjoyment of the videogame, it was unrelated to the enjoyment of the e-cigarette device. No evidence was found that nicotine elevated either anhedonia or withdrawal symptoms in the timeframe of the study. The results provide initial evidence that nicotine enhancement, via electronic cigarettes, occurs in non-frequent users of nicotine products and may be a reason they can develop nicotine dependence in the absence of withdrawal and direct effects of nicotine. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Indexed as

Electronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsSubstance Withdrawal SyndromeTobacco Use DisorderHumansNicotineReinforcement, PsychologyYoung AdultNicotine

Identifiers

PMID34166033
PMCPMC8702578

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.