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Abstract
Vaping is a growing threat to public health and there is much to learn regarding the factors that precede vaping initiation, maintenance, and potential escalation. Building upon prior research in the neuroscience of nicotine addiction, the current study utilized a novel functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) approach to evaluate whether brain reactivity to vaping packaging predicts vaping frequency while also considering the potential moderating effect that trait food craving may have on this relationship. Overall, there were three core aims of the current study. First, we wanted to utilize a novel vaping packaging cue reactivity paradigm to functionally identify brain regions of interest (ROIs) that significantly respond to vaping packaging with either gray stimuli or colorful food stimuli. Second, we wanted to determine whether we could use the reactivity of these ROIs to both types of packaging to predict vaping outcomes (i.e., number of puffs on vaping devices reported in the four weeks following the initial study visit). Third, we wanted to assess whether the potential association between the ROIs reactivity to packaging and vaping outcomes was dependent upon an individual’s self-reported level of trait food cravings. We identified 10 ROIs that exhibited the most robust significant reactivity to vaping packaging containing gray or colorful food stimuli. These ROIs are predominantly engaged in visual, language, and attentional processes. Analyses conducted from a sample of 59 young adult heavy vapers revealed that, in general, these ROIs were not predictive of vaping outcomes on their own. However, significant interactions between ROI reactivity to both types of vaping packaging and trait food craving were found to predict vaping outcomes. The interaction involving ROI reactivity to gray packaging was in the expected positive direction, but the interaction involving ROI reactivity to colorful food packaging was unexpectedly negative. The findings from this study contribute to our understanding of how the stimuli present on vaping packaging is processed, and how these neural responses can be used to predict vaping outcomes. Our findings may contribute to the development and guidance of evidence-based policies aimed at regulating the packages of vaping products.