PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL AND SUBJECTIVE EFFECTS OF CIGARETTES HAVING VARYING NICOTINE YIELDS BUT RELATIVELY CONSTANT TAR YIELDS

Thirty-two subjects were tested in five double-blind sessions - 16 sub jects in the morning (a.m.) following overnight smoking abstention, an d 16 in the afternoon (p.m.) following ad lib smoking. In each session , subjects smoked 1 of 5 cigarettes having the following FTC nicotine/ 'tar' yields in mg: 0.08/8.5, 0.17/9.1, 0.37/9.8, 0.48/9.8, and 0.74/1 0.4. On a pre- to postsmoking basis, blood nicotine and heart rate inc reased with nicotine yield. The effect of nicotine yield on changes in self-rated anxiety was an inverted-U function, but this effect was po ssibly confounded by baseline differences. The following effects on EE G spectral-band magnitude were also obtained: (1) nicotine yields grea ter than or equal to 0.17 mg decreased delta; (2) nicotine yields of 0 .37 and 0.48 mg decreased theta in a.m. subjects; (3) nicotine yields greater than or equal to 0.37 mg decreased alpha, the effect being gre ater in a.m, subjects; (4) no effect of yield on beta1 was obtained; ( 5) nicotine yields of 0.48 and 0.74 mg increased the Cz-minus-TS diffe rential in beta2. Pre- to postsmoking changes in this measure of beta2 were not correlated with either blood nicotine or anxiety.