Assessing internal tobacco industry knowledge of the neurobiology of tobacco dependence

The recent availability of internal tobacco industry documents provides a significant resource for evaluating industry understanding of the pharmacological, psychosocial, and behavioral mechanisms underlying tobacco dependence. In this study, we catalog the range of efforts undertaken by tobacco manufacturers seeking knowledge of these mechanisms. Some areas of industry research, such as cellular and molecular studies of nicotine and its effects. are widely available in the open literature. Of greater interest are internal research projects that have demonstrated direct influence on product development. These include studies of smoker psychology and behavior, evoked-response studies of tobacco-delivered nicotine, the effects of sensory perception, dose-related effects. and the development of nicotine analogs and synergists. Our findings suggest extensive industry knowledge of mechanisms that determine smoker perception and behavior, and application of this knowledge in product development, including control of sensory response, uptake of nicotine, and product effects. Independent research recently has begun to consider the contributions of tobacco product ingredients and design factors to the determination of risk, severity, and prevalence of addiction. However, the application of these findings to cessation and treatment efforts is still quite limited. We conclude that clinical research would greatly benefit from further examination of the decades of knowledge accumulated by tobacco manufacturers.