UC Irvine researchers have identified a new technique, termed "cue labeling," that can reduce the subjective experience of craving cigarettes and the associated brain activity. This discovery, detailed in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, suggests a novel mental strategy for individuals working to quit smoking.
The research was led by Golnaz Tabibnia, an assistant research psychologist at UC Irvine's School of Social Ecology, Department of Psychology. Tabibnia described the technique, stating that putting what one craves into words can help calm cravings, drawing parallels to how verbalizing feelings has long been known to calm emotions. The study received funding support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The inspiration for adapting this approach to cravings stemmed from Tabibnia's prior work on emotions and emotion regulation. Her research focused on using insights from the brain to improve mental strategies for managing emotions. She observed that emotions and cravings, along with how they are regulated, share common mechanisms in the brain. This led to the hypothesis that a cognitive technique effective for emotion regulation might also be effective for craving regulation.
Cue labeling is an adaptation of an established emotion regulation technique known as "affect labeling." Affect labeling involves the act of naming a feeling or something that triggers a feeling. This line of research, which began with understanding how language parts of the brain might influence the amygdala—a region known for its role in emotions like fear—has shown that verbalizing feelings activates specific parts of the prefrontal cortex and can reduce emotional responses. These responses were measured through amygdala activity, self-reports, and physiological arousal. The clinical implications of this "language/emotion interaction" were explored in therapies for fear and anxiety, where affect labeling was recommended to enhance treatment outcomes.
The difficulty in quitting smoking is substantial, with studies indicating that while about half of U.S. adults who smoke attempt to quit each year, fewer than 10% manage to sustain abstinence for six months or longer. Globally, 67.7% of adult smokers have expressed a desire to quit, and 53.5% reported trying to quit in the past year, yet less than one in ten succeed annually.
From a neuroscience perspective, this challenge arises because nicotine and other addictive substances co-opt the brain's reward circuits. These circuits, which involve the neurochemical dopamine, typically compel actions vital for survival, such as seeking food or water. Dopamine neurons are highly responsive during anticipated pleasant experiences or surprisingly good experiences. The system links wanting something with the motivation to move towards it, a process evolutionarily designed to encourage repetition of positive actions. Addictive substances activate this dopamine system much more intensely than everyday survival cues, leading to very strong desires. However, the brain is also equipped with capacities to overcome these desires, sometimes requiring help and training.
Traditional mental strategies for regulating craving include mindfulness, which involves observing the sensation of craving without trying to change it, and cognitive reappraisal, which reframes thoughts about the desired object to make it less appealing by focusing on harmful consequences rather than perceived pleasure. Both require practice.
The UC Irvine-led study introduces cue labeling as a targeted addition to these efforts, offering a new path by leveraging the brain’s own mechanisms for verbalizing and regulating internal states.
