Unconscious effects of addiction-specific attentional bias and the wanting-liking imbalance in smoking: A visual mismatch negativity study

These findings support IST by showing that attentional bias toward substance related cues can influence early, automatic cognitive processing. The vMMN results suggest that this bias extends beyond the focus of conscious attention. Moreover, the correlation between vMMN and self-reported wanting-liking discrepancy highlights the potential of subjective measures to reflect IST-relevant mechanisms. This offers promising implications for future research, treatment development, and intervention strategies targeting early attentional processes in nicotine addiction.