Cigarette Exposure, Dependence, and Craving Are Related to Insula Thickness in Young Adult Smokers
Cigarette Exposure, Dependence, and Craving Are Related to Insula Thickness in Young Adult Smokers
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DOI：
10.1038/npp.2014.48
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发表时间：
2014-07-01
影响因子：
7.6
通讯作者：
London, Edythe D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Morales, Angelica M.;Ghahremani, Dara;London, Edythe D.
在美国，从青少年晚期到成年期的年龄段与吸烟的最高流行率有关，也是大脑持续发育的时期。尽管如此，尽管先前的研究已经显示了与成年人吸烟状况相关的大脑结构的群体差异，但很少有研究探讨吸烟和相关行为状态如何与这个年龄组的大脑结构相关。神经影像学和病变研究表明，大脑皮层区域，整合有关内部状态的异质信号，并有助于执行功能，在吸烟行为中起着重要作用。因此，我们使用高分辨率结构磁共振成像，测量了18名吸烟者和24名年龄在16岁至21岁之间的非吸烟者的大脑皮层厚度。两组间右前降支厚度无显著差异，但香烟暴露（包-年）与右前降支厚度呈负相关。香烟依赖和吸烟欲望与右腹前额叶皮质厚度呈负相关。虽然研究结果没有证明因果关系，但它们确实表明，吸烟史相对较短的年轻吸烟者的大脑结构受到香烟暴露的影响。由于长期接触或依赖性的进展而引起的大脑变化可能导致更广泛的结构变化，这表现在报告的成年吸烟者和非吸烟者之间的群体差异中。结构完整性的ESTA可能有影响，预测长期吸烟和其他药物滥用的问题，在这一人群。
The age period spanning late adolescence to emergent adulthood is associated with the highest prevalence of cigarette smoking in the United States, and is also a time of continued brain development. Nonetheless, although prior research has shown group differences in brain structure associated with smoking status in adults, few studies have examined how smoking and associated behavioral states relate to brain structure in this age group. Neuroimaging and lesion studies have suggested that the insula, a cortical region that integrates heterogeneous signals about internal states and contributes to executive functions, plays an important role in cigarette smoking behavior. Using high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging, we therefore measured cortical thickness of the insula in 18 smokers and 24 nonsmokers between the ages of 16 and 21 years. There were no group differences in insula thickness, but cigarette exposure (pack-years) was negatively associated with thickness in right insula. Cigarette dependence and the urge to smoke were negatively related to cortical thickness in the right ventral anterior insula. Although the results do not demonstrate causation, they do suggest that there are effects of cigarette exposure on brain structure in young smokers, with a relatively short smoking history. It is possible that changes in the brain due to prolonged exposure or to the progression of dependence lead to more extensive structural changes, manifested in the reported group differences between adult smokers and nonsmokers. Structural integrity of the insula may have implications for predicting long-term cigarette smoking and problems with other substance abuse in this population.