GeoScan Smoking Study
How do the places we go and things we see influence the way we use our brains? For example, do neural responses to point-of-sale tobacco (POST) cues change as a function of real-world exposure to those cues over time?
This study examines whether exposure to point-of-sale tobacco marketing affects smoking behavior, experiences of craving, and neural reactivity in response to different types of smoking cues, including pictures of retail outlets. If it is the case that lower exposure to point of sale tobacco marketing decreases smoking behavior, this emphasizes the importance of further regulation of retail advertising for tobacco. Examination of neural responses and craving in response to smoking cues will further provide evidence for a biological mechanism through which such effects take hold.
Key Publications
- Andrews, M., Cooper, N., Mattan, B. D., Carreras-Tartak, J., Paul, A. M., Strasser, A. A., Henriksen, L., & Falk, E. B. (2025). Causal effects of point-of-sale cigarette promotions and subjective social status on cigarette craving: A randomised within-person experiment. Tobacco Control, 34(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2023-058069
Supplementary Materials - Muzekari, B., Cooper, N., Resnick, A., Paul, A. M., Torres, O., Andrews, M., Mattan, B. D., Scholz, C., Johnson, D. G., Carreras Tartak, J., Cakar, M., Hao, S., Zhou, E., Beard, E., Mesquiti, S., Sayed, F., Fichman, M., Lydon-Staley, D. M., Barnett, I., Strasser, A. A., Kirchner, T. R., Henriksen, L., Falk, E. B. (2025). Naturalistic tobacco retail exposure and smoking outcomes in adults who smoke cigarettes daily. JAMA Network Open, 8(9), e2530132. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.30132.
Supplementary Materials - Cooper, N., Muzekari, B., Andrews, M. E., Beard, E., Cakar, M., Carreras-Tartak, J., Hao, S., Johnson, D., Mattan, B., Paul, A., Resnick, A., Sayed, F., Scholz, C,. Torres, O., Barnett, I., Fichman, M., Henriksen, L., Kirchner, T., Lydon-Staley, D. M., Strasser, A., & Falk, E. B. (2025; last updated 2025). Using ecological momentary assessment, geolocation tracking, and neuroimaging to assess effects of tobacco retail exposure on smoking behavior: Protocol for the GeoSmoking Study. Preprint in PsyArXiv: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/bgkze_v2
- Muzekari, B., Bassett, D. S., Falk, E. B., Schnoll, R. A., Wilson, S. J., & Lydon-Staley, D. M. (2025; last updated 2025). Tobacco withdrawal system recovery time predicts smoking behavior change among individuals who smoke cigarettes daily. Preprint in PsyArXiv: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/87n5c_v1
Key Collaborators
- Thomas Kirchner (NYU)
- Lisa Henriksen (Stanford)
- Ian Barnett (Penn)
- Andrew Strasser (Penn's Perelman School of Medicine)
- Michael Fichman (Penn’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
- David Lydon-Staley (Penn's Annenberg School for Communication)
Funding
NCI / NIH / DHHS
Falk (PI)
03/19-08/25
Cancer Prevention through Neural and Geospatial Examination of Tobacco Marketing Effects in Smokers
1R01CA229305-01A1
Links
Photo Credit (top image): Jamie Muller / Unsplash
On This Study
These are the members of our lab involved in the study.
Nicole Cooper, Ph.D.
Managing Director of Research, Communication Neuroscience Lab
Ally Paul
Associate Director of Research, Communication Neuroscience Lab; Assistant to the Vice Dean
Omaya Torres-Grillo
Senior Research Coordinator/Research Fellow
