Abstract
Abnormal interhemispheric functional connectivity correlates with several neurologic and psychiatric conditions, including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and stroke. Abnormal interhemispheric functional connectivity also correlates with abuse of cannabis and cocaine. In the current report, we evaluated whether tobacco abuse (i.e., cigarette smoking) is associated with altered interhemispheric connectivity. To that end, we examined resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in short term tobacco deprived and smoking as usual tobacco smokers, and in non-smoker controls. Additionally, we compared diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in the same subjects to study differences in white matter. The data reveal a significant increase in interhemispheric functional connectivity in sated tobacco smokers when compared to controls. This difference was larger in frontal regions, and was positively correlated with the average number of cigarettes smoked per day. In addition, we found a negative correlation between the number of DTI streamlines in the genual corpus callosum and the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Taken together, our results implicate changes in interhemispheric functional and anatomical connectivity in current cigarette smokers.
Highlights
Tobacco abuse is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in developed countries (Peto et al, 1996; Benowitz, 2008)
We examined resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in short term tobacco deprived and smoking as usual tobacco smokers, and in non-smoker controls
We found significant differences in interhemispheric Resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) between sated smokers and controls in the frontal region (F(2,57) = 5.05, p < 0.005) and medial region (F(2,57) = 3.32, p < 0.05), but there was not a statistically significant difference in the caudal region (F(2,57) = 2.38, p > 0.05; Figure 1D)
Summary
Tobacco abuse is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in developed countries (Peto et al, 1996; Benowitz, 2008). Several studies point to nicotine as the primary addictive component in tobacco (Mansvelder and McGehee, 2002; Benowitz, 2009). The effects of tobacco on brain functioning have been extensively studied. A better understanding of the neural effects of tobacco in the human brain is necessary to develop better anti-tobacco therapies. Both anatomical and functional brain connectivity have been shown to be altered by tobacco smoke. Resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) is a non-invasive brain imaging method that identifies low frequency signal correlations among different areas of the brain
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