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Little evidence that “denicotinized” menthol cigarettes have pharmacological effects: an EEG/heart-rate/subjective-response study

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Rationale: A substantial portion of cigarette smokers prefer menthol-flavored cigarettes. To date, however, no studies have examined whether menthol in cigarettes has central pharmacological effects. Objective: We investigated psychophysiological and subjective effects of smoking menthol versus non-menthol cigarettes in both menthol and non-menthol smokers. To assess these effects independently of the immediate effects of nicotine, all cigarettes employed were “denicotinized” (FTC nicotine yield = 0.06 mg). Methods: The psychophysiological measures were EEG and heart rate (HR). The subjective measures assessed mental alertness, muscular relaxation, anxiety/nervousness, and how much a participant wanted to smoke one of his usual brand of cigarettes. Menthol and non-menthol smokers participated in a single session in which each participant smoked both a menthol and a non-menthol denicotinized cigarette (order balanced across participants). The psychophysiological and subjective measures were recorded before and after smoking each cigarette. Results: Out of 48 F-ratios spanning 22 analyses of variance involving the critical interaction between pre-/post-smoking and menthol/non-menthol cigarette, only one unambiguously fit a “pharmacological” pattern, a result indistinguishable from a type-I statistical error. We report evidence that menthol smokers may be chronically less aroused and more sensitive to the effects of nicotine than non-menthol smokers. Conclusions: We found little evidence that menthol in cigarettes has central pharmacological effects.

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Received: 27 July 1998/Final version: 26 October 1998

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Pritchard, W., Houlihan, M., Guy, T. et al. Little evidence that “denicotinized” menthol cigarettes have pharmacological effects: an EEG/heart-rate/subjective-response study. Psychopharmacology 143, 273–279 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050947

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050947

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