Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Nov 12;24(12):1889-1897. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac168.
Abstinence symptoms present challenges to successful cessation of cigarette smoking. Chronic exposure to nicotine and long-term nicotine abstinence are associated with alterations in cortical and subcortical gray matter volumes (GMVs).
We aimed at examining changes in regional GMVs following overnight abstinence and how these regional functions relate to abstinence symptoms. Here, in a sample of 31 regular smokers scanned both in a satiety state and after overnight abstinence, we employed voxel-wise morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) to investigate these issues. We processed imaging data with published routines and evaluated the results with a corrected threshold.
Smokers showed smaller GMVs of the left ventral hippocampus and right secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) after overnight abstinence as compared to satiety. The GMV alterations in right SII were positively correlated with changes in withdrawal symptom severity between states. Furthermore, right SII rsFC with the precentral gyrus was stronger in abstinence as compared to satiety. The inter-regional rsFC was positively correlated with motor impulsivity and withdrawal symptom severity during abstinence and negatively with craving to smoke during satiety.
These findings highlight for the first time the effects of overnight abstinence on cerebral volumetrics and changes in functional connectivity of a higher-order sensory cortex. These changes may dispose smokers to impulsive behaviors and aggravate the urge to smoke at the earliest stage of withdrawal from nicotine.
Overnight abstinence leads to changes in gray matter volumes and functional connectivity of the second somatosensory cortex in cigarette smokers. Higher somatosensory and motor cortical connectivity in abstinence is significantly correlated with trait motor impulsivity and withdrawal symptom severity. The findings add to the literature of neural markers of nicotine addiction.
戒断症状给成功戒烟带来了挑战。慢性暴露于尼古丁和长期尼古丁戒断与皮质和皮质下灰质体积（GMV）的改变有关。
我们旨在研究在一夜戒断后，区域 GMV 的变化，以及这些区域功能如何与戒断症状相关。在这里，我们对 31 名经常吸烟的人进行了研究，他们在饱食状态和一夜戒断后都接受了扫描，我们采用了体素形态计量学和静息状态功能连接（rsFC）来研究这些问题。我们使用已发表的程序处理成像数据，并使用校正后的阈值评估结果。
与饱食状态相比，吸烟者在一夜戒断后左腹侧海马体和右侧次级躯体感觉皮层（SII）的 GMV 较小。右侧 SII 的 GMV 变化与状态间戒断症状严重程度的变化呈正相关。此外，与饱食相比，右侧 SII 与中央前回的 rsFC 在戒断时更强。区域间 rsFC 与戒断时的运动冲动性和戒断症状严重程度呈正相关，与饱食时的吸烟渴望呈负相关。
这些发现首次强调了一夜戒断对大脑体积和高级感觉皮层功能连接变化的影响。这些变化可能使吸烟者容易出现冲动行为，并在尼古丁戒断的最早阶段加重吸烟的欲望。
一夜戒断导致吸烟者第二躯体感觉皮层的灰质体积和功能连接发生变化。戒断时更高的躯体感觉和运动皮质连接与特质运动冲动性和戒断症状严重程度显著相关。这些发现为尼古丁成瘾的神经标记物增加了新的内容。
