Controlled breathing and neural markers of self-regulation in adolescent smokers

描述（由申请人提供）：吸烟通常始于青春期，是疾病和过早死亡的主要原因。几种药理学和行为干预已被用于治疗成人尼古丁依赖，但这些策略的应用，青少年尼古丁依赖的研究是稀疏的，并产生了混合的结果。有希望的替代治疗方法仍然没有得到充分的探索。 青少年的冒险倾向和他们不发达的自我调节能力被认为是导致青少年吸烟的两个因素。这些行为特征可能反映了调节皮层下奖赏回路的前额叶皮层系统的成熟延迟。因此，重要的是要探索治疗策略，提高自我调节行为在这个年龄组的努力，以减少吸烟相关的发病率和死亡率。这些策略的识别也可以促进对自我调节的神经基础及其在青春期的发展的理解。 初步研究表明，以瑜伽为基础的控制呼吸技巧训练可以减少吸烟和尼古丁戒断症状。然而，尚不清楚这些影响是否与增强的自我调节有关。如果控制呼吸能改善自我调节，它可能成为青少年戒烟的一种新的治疗方法。它价格便宜，易于采用，没有令人不快或不愉快的影响，并且不需要广泛的培训。 我们建议调查控制呼吸的行为指标和自我调节的神经标志物的高中生谁是每日吸烟者的影响。参与者（14 - 18岁）将接受控制呼吸技术的培训。功能性MRI将用于测量大脑激活，同时参与者在30分钟的受控呼吸后执行旨在引发情绪反应，渴望和自我调节的任务，与参与引导放松（控制）相比，平衡秩序。与情绪和自我调节相关的结构中的大脑激活和功能连接（例如，杏仁核、腹外侧前额叶皮质） 将被审查。 这项拟议的研究将是第一个调查一个简单的，临床上可获得的，非药理学技术对自我调节的行为和神经基质的影响。积极的研究结果表明，控制呼吸改善自我调节的样本测试将证明评估这种技术作为一种干预措施，以减少青少年吸烟，与其他应用程序涉及难以调节破坏性行为的潜在效用。! 公共卫生相关性：青少年吸烟的药物和行为治疗取得了一定的成功，而替代性的非药物治疗方法仍有待探索。这个项目将评估基于瑜伽的控制呼吸对青少年吸烟者自我调节能力的行为和大脑影响。研究结果可能会为减少青少年吸烟提供新的，成功的治疗策略。!

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cigarette smoking is usually initiated in adolescence and constitutes a major cause of disease and premature death. Several pharmacological and behavioral interventions have been used to treat nicotine dependence in adults, but research on the application of these strategies to adolescent nicotine dependence is sparse and has produced mixed results. Promising alternative treatments remain underexplored. The propensity of adolescents for risk-taking and their underdeveloped capacity for self-regulation are two factors thought to contribute to adolescent smoking. These behavioral characteristics likely reflect the maturational delay of prefrontal cortical systems that regulate sub cortical reward circuits. It is therefore important to explore treatment strategies that enhance self-regulation behavior in this age group in efforts to reduce smoking-related morbidity and mortality. Identification of such strategies could also advance understanding of the neural substrates of self-regulation and its development during adolescence. Preliminary studies show that training in yoga-based controlled breathing techniques can reduce smoking and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. However, it is not known whether these effects are linked to enhanced self-regulation. If controlled breathing improves self-regulation, it could have significant potental as a new treatment possibility for adolescent smoking cessation. It is inexpensive, simple to adopt, lacks unpleasant or untoward effects, and does not require extensive training. We propose to investigate the effects of controlled breathing on behavioral indices and neural markers of self-regulation in high-school students who are daily smokers. Participants (ages 14-18) will be trained in controlled breathing techniques. Functional MRI will be used to measure brain activation while participants perform tasks designed to elicit emotional responses, craving, and self-regulation after 30 minutes of controlled breathing as compared to engaging in guided relaxation (control), counterbalanced for order. Brain activation and functional connectivity in structures related to emotion and self-regulation (e.g., amygdala, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) will be examined. The proposed study will be the first to investigate the effects of a simple, clinically accessible, non- pharmacological technique on behavioral and neural substrates of self-regulation. Positive findings showing that controlled breathing improves self-regulation in the sample tested would justify assessment of this technique as an intervention to reduce adolescent smoking, with potential utility for other applications involving difficulty in regulatin destructive behaviors. ! PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Pharmacological and behavioral treatments for adolescent smoking have had modest success while alternative, non-pharmacological treatments remain underexplored. This project will evaluate the behavioral and brain effects of yoga-based controlled breathing on self-regulation abilities of adolescent smokers. The results will potentially inform novel, successful treatment strategies for reducing teen smoking. !