14 DAY TRIAL // The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced yesterday that low-intensity and low-key anti-smoking public service announcements (PSA) were more likely to incite an effect in the brains of smokers than their more flashy or shocking versions. A new study also reveals that different brain areas are activated by the two types of ads, which may explain the disparities. The research is published in the May 15th issue of the journal NeuroImage, and was supported by NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
“This study highlights the feasibility of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine how the brain processes drug prevention messages. The next step is to determine whether better memory for the low key-PSAs translates into changing attitudes and behaviors. Ultimately, this could improve our strategies for communicating public health information,” Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of NIDA, explained in a statement.
The investigation focused more on televised PSAs, which are a very important part of anti-smoking campaigns. While some ads were just stating the facts, in a mild manner, and urged smokers to quit the habit, others used flashy and fast images, loud music, as well as shocking photographs and stills, depicting its effects. By using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machines, the experts learned that the frontal and temporal cortices – associated with attention and memory, respectively – were more active during the low-intensity PSAs, than during the fast-paced ones.
For the new study, 18 smokers were asked to step in the fMRI machine, while they watched both types of anti-smoking ads, with a higher or lower message sensation value (MSV). The clips were shown at random, and they were also presented in between sequences taken from a wildlife documentary. When high-intensity ads were displayed, the occipital cortex, an area of the brain usually associated with visual processing, lit up more than usual, which only made sense, the experts say, as the brain had to process fast images in a very short time.
This “is the first scientific report to demonstrate a neurobiological basis for a concept (MSV) in health communications research. Our findings suggest that the attention-grabbing high-MSV format may impede the learning and retention of a PSA. The findings are also novel in that they offer a general approach for objectively evaluating PSAs before they are released,” University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (UPP) expert Dr. Daniel D. Langleben, who has been the principal investigator for the new NeuroImage study, concluded.