Exposure to smoking cues during an emotion recognition task can modulate limbic fMRI activation in cigarette smokers
Addiction Biology. 2009-10-01; 14(4): 469-477
DOI: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2009.00167.x
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1. Addict Biol. 2009 Sep;14(4):469-77. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2009.00167.x.
Epub 2009 Jul 24.
Exposure to smoking cues during an emotion recognition task can modulate limbic
fMRI activation in cigarette smokers.
Artiges E(1), Ricalens E, Berthoz S, Krebs MO, Penttilä J, Trichard C, Martinot
JL.
Author information:
(1)INSERM, U797 Neuroimaging & Psychiatry Research Unit, IFR49, Orsay, France.
Smoking cues (SCs) refer to smoking-associated environmental stimuli that may
trigger craving and withdrawal symptoms, and predispose to relapse in smokers.
Although previous brain imaging studies have explored neural responses to SCs,
no study has characterized the effects of SCs on cerebral activity in smokers
engaged in an attention-demanding cognitive task that is unrelated to smoking.
Thirteen tobacco smokers and a demographically matched group of 13 healthy
non-smokers participated in a fast event-related functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) study that involved a visual task integrating SCs and neutral
cues (NCs) during emotion recognition trials requiring a high level of
attention. No significant SC-induced alterations were detected in smokers’
behavioural performance. fMRI results show that non-smokers exhibited no
difference between SC and NC trials; in contrast, smokers showed SC-induced
widespread deactivations in a limbic, paralimbic and striatal network
classically involved in addiction, and activation in the right dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex. In addition, a correlation between deactivation of the right
insula and the severity of smoking dependence (Fagerström test) was detected in
smokers. These results suggest that the neural reactivity of smokers to SCs can
be modified in the context of a cognitive challenge. This could reflect smokers’
ability to inhibit cue-induced craving and may help in smoking cessation.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2009.00167.x
PMID: 19650816 [Indexed for MEDLINE]