Cardiovascular reactivity and smoking in coronary prone (type A) and non-coronary prone (type B) subjects

Psychophysiological activation, reactivity, and recovery in Type A and Type B scorers when in a stressful laboratory situation

21 university students participated in a study to assess intergroup differences in psychophysiological activation, reactivity, and recovery. Findings support the hypothesis that 12 Type A scorers showed a greater activation and reactivity than the 9 Type B scorers. Type A scorers needed more time to recover normal psychophysiological levels than Type B scorers. We propose that the "fast activation-slow recovery" profile is characteristic of Type A scorers. The "fast activation-fast recovery" profile is characteristic of Type B-scoring college students.

Cardiovascular responses to a quantified dose of nicotine as a function of personality and nicotine tolerance

Correlations between cardiovascular effects of a quantified dose of nicotine and personality measures previously shown to predict coronary heart disease were obtained. Thirty male smokers smoked a popular brand of a regular strength cigarette (1.0 mg FTC-estimated nicotine delivery) on one occasion and a nicotine-free cigarette on another occasion by means of a quantified smoke delivery system. Partial correlations controlling for effects of body weight, questionnaire-assessed nicotine tolerance, and cardiovascular responses to the nicotine-free control cigarette showed Jenkins Activity Survey Type A scores to correlate positively with nicotine-induced increase in diastolic blood pressure but negatively with nicotine-induced increase in systolic blood pressure. Partial correlations indicated that trait anxiety and depression were significantly associated with nicotine-induced heart rate increases but not with nicotine-induced blood pressure responses.

The effects of smoking on the mood, cardiovascular and adrenergic reactivity of heavy and light smokers in a non-stressful environment

Following a period of overnight deprivation, 58 smokers participated in a 90-min laboratory assessment in which they viewed a non-stressful movie and smoked two 0.5-mg nicotine-containing cigarettes. The first cigarette was given to all subjects following 25 min of adaptation and baseline. The next cigarette was provided at their request, which occurred 9-12 min later. "Heavy" and "light" smokers were grouped according to their average morning cotinine values, which fell above or below 250 ng/ml, respectively. The results showed that, relative to their baseline, heavy and light smokers experienced about the same level of post-smoking change in blood nicotine, heart rate and blood pressure. However, heavy smokers showed a significantly greater delta from baseline in post-smoking measures of epinephrine, norepinephrine, tension reduction and increase in vigor enhancement. A strong and consistent correlation was observed between post-smoking increases in epinephrine, tension reduction and increased vigor.

The effects of smoking on electrocortical arousal in coronary prone (type A) and non-coronary prone (type B) subjects

Twenty-nine Type A subjects, (greater than 75 percentile on the Jenkins Activity Survey) and 28 Type Bs (less than 25 percentile of the survey) were asked to smoke one cigarette (1.0 mg nicotine, 16 mg tar, 14 mg CO) using a standardized smoking procedure. Significant differences between baseline and smoking conditions were noted in the distribution of electrocortical activity for both groups. In addition, a shift from EEG low frequency high amplitude (alpha) events to high frequency low amplitude activity (beta) was noted for the As, while the Bs showed enhanced very low frequency high amplitude (theta) activity. A striking parallel was observed between the behavioral predisposition of the subject (A/B) and the possible function of the underlying neurological structure mediating the observed EEG changes. It is suggested that the electrocortical changes observed for the As during smoking are mediated by reticular (ARS I) arousal. Enhanced reticular activity may coincide with an increased rate of information processing, attention and vigilance. On the other hand, the electrocortical changes observed for the Type Bs may represent enhanced activity of the limbic system (ARS II) with could coincide with stimulation of the reward/pleasure centers. Smoking may produce a pattern of neurophysiological arousal which parallels the behavioral tempo of the individual. Possible differences in in vivo regulation of nicotine cholinergic binding sites are also discussed.