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Anatomical differences and network characteristics underlying smoking cue reactivity - PubMed

  • ️Sat Jan 01 2011

Anatomical differences and network characteristics underlying smoking cue reactivity

Xiaochu Zhang et al. Neuroimage. 2011.

Abstract

A distributed network of brain regions is linked to drug-related cue responding. However, the relationships between smoking cue-induced phasic activity and possible underlying differences in brain structure, tonic neuronal activity and connectivity between these brain areas are as yet unclear. Twenty-two smokers and 22 controls viewed smoking-related and neutral pictures during a functional arterial spin labeling scanning session. T1, resting functional, and diffusion tensor imaging data were also collected. Six brain areas, dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/cingulate cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), occipital cortex, and insula/operculum, showed significant smoking cue-elicited activity in smokers when compared with controls and were subjected to secondary analysis for resting state functional connectivity (rsFC), structural, and tonic neuronal activity. rsFC strength between rACC and dlPFC was positively correlated with the cue-elicited activity in dlPFC. Similarly, rsFC strength between dlPFC and dmPFC was positively correlated with the cue-elicited activity in dmPFC while rsFC strength between dmPFC and insula/operculum was negatively correlated with the cue-elicited activity in both dmPFC and insula/operculum, suggesting these brain circuits may facilitate the response to the salient smoking cues. Further, the gray matter density in dlPFC was decreased in smokers and correlated with cue-elicited activity in the same brain area, suggesting a neurobiological mechanism for the impaired cognitive control associated with drug use. Taken together, these results begin to address the underlying neurobiology of smoking cue salience, and may speak to novel treatment strategies and targets for therapeutic interventions.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure/Conflict of Interest

None

The authors reported no financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Experimental paradigm of an ASL scanning run

Figure 2
Figure 2

Significant interactions (FWE corrected p<0.05, i.e., uncorrected p<0.005 and minimal volume=1226mm3) between group (smokers vs. controls) and stimulus cue type (smoking vs. neutral). 1: bilateral dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), 2: right dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC); 3: bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/cingulate cortex (dACC/CC)), 4: right middle occipital gyrus (MOG), 5: left Insula/operculum, and 6: bilateral rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC).

Figure 3
Figure 3

A. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in rACC was positively correlated with lifetime cigarette usage (pack-years). B. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dlPFC was negatively correlated with lifetime cigarette usage (pack-years). C. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dlPFC was positively correlated with gray matter density in the same area. All data were corrected for age and gender.

Figure 4
Figure 4

A. The rsFC strength between dlPFC and rACC was positively correlated with the smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dlPFC. B. The rsFC strength between dmPFC and dlPFC was positively correlated with smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dmPFC. C. The rsFC strength between dmPFC and Insula/operculum was negatively correlated with smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dmPFC. D. The rsFC strength between dmPFC and Insula/operculum was negatively correlated with smoking cue-elicited CBF change in Insula/operculum. All data were corrected for age and gender.

Figure 5
Figure 5

A. The red cluster illustrates the significant FA difference between smokers and controls. The blue area is the prefrontal mask (based on the skeleton data). Because our previous results (unpublished) and all significant rsFC circuits were located in prefrontal cortex, only FA data within this prefrontal mask were included in the analysis. B. FA in this prefrontal cluster shown in A was positively correlated with the rsFC strength between dmPFC and dACC in non-smokers. C. FA in this prefrontal cluster shown in A was positively correlated with the rsFC strength between dmPFC and dlPFC in non-smokers. All data were corrected for age and gender.

Figure 6
Figure 6

Summary of the correlations between functional connectivity, gray matter density, and lifetime cigarette usage to smoking cue-elicited CBF changes in smokers. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dlPFC was positively correlated to the rsFC between dlPFC and rACC, negatively with lifetime cigarette usage, and positively with gray matter density. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in dmPFC was positively correlated to the rsFC between dlPFC and dmPFC and negatively with the rsFC between dmPFC and Insula/operculum. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in Insula/operculum was negatively related to the rsFC between dmPFC and Insula/operculum. The smoking cue-elicited CBF change in rACC was positively associated with lifetime cigarette usage. Note, these hypothesized circuits and relationships should be considered exploratory.

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