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UMD TCORS: Consumer Acceptability Testing of New and Manipulated Tobacco Products

Principal Investigator: Pamela Clark

Funding Mechanism: National Institutes of Health- TCORS Grant

ID number: 1P50CA180523-01

Award Date: 9/18/2013

Institution: University of Maryland

Learned associations between nicotine and other sensory characteristics of cigarettes (such as "throat grab") contribute to the rewarding characteristics of smoked tobacco products. This project will characterize and contrast consumer acceptance and the likelihood of adoption of smoked products that differ only on a single characteristic of interest (e.g., menthol/non-menthol cigarettes, high/low smoke pH). Investigators will conduct a series of within-subject crossover trials and use electroencephalography (EEG) to evaluate a test tobacco product and a comparison product in four laboratory smoking sessions; participants will include 120 subjects aged 18 and older. Specific aims are: (1) to characterize and contrast consumer acceptability and likelihood of adoption of combustible tobacco products by comparing neurocognitive function (as indexed by event-related brain potentials [ERPs]) in response to smoking test cigarettes with and without characteristics of interest; and (2) to determine the contribution of "throat grab" to tobacco product acceptability and likelihood of adoption. This project may inform regulatory decisions and standards that protect the public health by clarifying our understanding of the interactions among certain product characteristics and their effects on tobacco use behaviors.

Rapid Response Characterization of New and Manipulated Tobacco Products (TCORS) Related Resources