# A neuroimaging approach to advance mechanistic understanding of tobacco use escalation risk among young adult African American vapers

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2022 · $226,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of this research is to identify neurobehavioral makers of tobacco use risk among young adult (YA)
African American (AA) vapers and examine how these patterns of neural activation are impacted by social
disadvantages and chronic stressors experienced in this population. Findings are expected to advance
understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying tobacco use trajectories among YA AA vapers in
the rural South and inform efforts to reduce racial disparities in tobacco harm. Given the accumulating
evidence that vaping conveys 5-fold additional risk for smoking initiation and other tobacco use escalation,
recent YA increases in use are alarming, threatening a resurgence of dependence that may reverse decades
of tobacco control success. Vape product manufacturers engage in practices outlawed for cigarettes, targeting
YA, low socioeconomic status, and minority groups, perpetuating tobacco disparities in these vulnerable
populations. One of these practices, adding flavor, makes vaping more palatable to YA and broadens the
impact of primary nicotine reinforcement through frequent paired associations. Coupled with targeted
marketing and a YA AA preference for menthol flavor, the disproportionate environmental vulnerabilities and
high rates of tobacco-related mortality and morbidity underscore the urgent need to identify mechanisms
pertaining to how adversity contributes to tobacco use escalation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) generates information complementary to traditional behavioral risk assessments, with direct
observations of the neural substrates that underlie the subjective states known to perpetuate addiction. It also
enables unprecedented isolation of effects in key neural networks associated with flavor and drug effects. The
proposed project aims to identify novel neuromarkers of tobacco use escalation risk, determine whether
sociocultural adversity is associated with these markers, and to examine the mechanisms by which these
factors may interact. We propose to recruit 60 YA AA non-smoking vapers from rural Georgia. Three fMRI cue
reactivity paradigms will be administered to probe critical neurobehavioral systems with high potential to
account for individual differences in tobacco use escalation risk. Cues will include 1) vaping and smoking; 2)
vape product packaging with and without flavors; and 3) Public Service Announcements with and without a
focus on flavor harms. Resulting neuromarkers will be examined for associations with traditional markers (e.g.,
craving) that would suggest validity, and relationships with measures of contextual adversity. Findings are
expected to advance understanding of mechanisms that predispose YA AA vapers to escalated tobacco use
and suggest specific neural and contextual factors that can be addressed in prevention strategies to forestall
tobacco use escalation (e.g., advertising, public service announcements, regulation of flavors). Results are
also ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10509308
- **Project number:** 1R21DA056570-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Jiaying Liu
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $226,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10509308

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10509308, A neuroimaging approach to advance mechanistic understanding of tobacco use escalation risk among young adult African American vapers (1R21DA056570-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10509308. Licensed CC0.

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