How nicotine's bodily signals and cues make quitting harder
Official title: Understanding and mitigating exacerbated nicotine use resulting from Pavlovianinteroceptive conditioning
Funded at University of Nebraska Lincoln · NIH-11319896 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how the internal effects of nicotine and everyday cues (like places, people, and stress) push people toward heavier smoking or vaping and how to lessen that for people trying to quit.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Nebraska Lincoln NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lincoln, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2023 |
| Project end | April 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $359,776 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DA057208-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11319896 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be adult smokers or vapers who have trouble quitting, especially those who relapse when exposed to specific cues or who have a history of heavy nicotine use.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not use nicotine or who are not seeking help to quit are unlikely to benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
You will see research on how the feeling nicotine creates inside your body becomes linked to places, people, or activities and later triggers cravings. The team will examine sex differences because women often develop dependence faster and relapse more. Using behavioral experiments and conditioning methods, they will identify which cues drive use and test ways to weaken those learned associations. The hope is to turn those findings into practical ways to help people reduce use and stay quit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new behavioral or treatment strategies that reduce cue-driven cravings and improve long-term quit rates.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research on external smoking cues has shown that cue-exposure and behavioral methods can reduce cravings, but targeting nicotine's internal (interoceptive) cues is less tested and more novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Lincoln, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bevins, Rick a — University of Nebraska Lincoln
- Study coordinator: Bevins, Rick a
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.