Cited by 188Smoking Behavior and CessationSubstance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

Factors underlying prefrontal and insula structural alterations in smokers

Open access
Zhang, Xiaochu, Salmeron, Betty Jo, Ross, Thomas J., Geng, Xiujuan, Yang, Yihong, Stein, Elliot A.·2011·NeuroImage

Abstract

Based upon previous reports of alterations in white matter integrity and gray matter density in smokers, we examined these markers in a large, well-matched sample of smokers and non-smokers. We further investigated the effect of heavy cigarette exposure by using pack-years and the effects of two relatively stable, highly heritable traits in smokers (Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND), a measure of severity of nicotine dependence and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), a stable personality trait related to smoking). Forty-eight nicotine-dependent subjects and 48 matched controls were included in the analyses, with smokers also subdivided into high/low dependence and high/low pack-years smokers. White matter integrity (fractional anisotropy (FA)) and gray matter density (voxel-based morphometry (VBM)) were measured and compared across groups. Gray matter density was lower in left prefrontal cortex (PFC) in high pack-years smokers and was inversely related to pack-years. In contrast, left insular cortex gray matter density was higher in smokers and associated with TAS-20 total score and with difficulty-identifying-feelings factor. Further, the most highly dependent smokers showed lower prefrontal FA, which was negatively correlated with FTND. There was no correlation between pack-years and FTND in our smoker population. These data suggest chronic tobacco use is correlated with prefrontal gray matter damage , while differences in insula gray matter and PFC white matter appear to reflect stable and heritable differences between smokers and non-smokers.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.08.008

Cites

65 of 65 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zhang, X., Salmeron, B. J., Ross, T. J., Geng, X., Yang, Y., & Stein, E. A.
Affiliations
National Institutes of Health (US)
Corresponding author
Stein, Elliot A.
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2011-01
Volume
54
Issue
1
Pages
42-48
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1984123427
Cited by
188
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 14
FWCI
8.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (Z01DA000470, ZIADA000470)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
smoking, prefrontal cortex, insula, gray matter density, white matter integrity, fractional anisotropy, nicotine dependence, pack-years, alexithymia, brain structural changes
MeSH terms
Brain Damage, Chronic, Cerebral Cortex, Emotions, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nerve Degeneration, Smoke, Smoking, Thinking, Prefrontal Cortex

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review