Cited by 75Smoking Behavior and CessationMindfulness and Compassion InterventionsSubstance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Neural stress reactivity relates to smoking outcomes and differentiates between mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral treatments

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Kober, Hedy, Brewer, Judson A., Height, Keri L., Sinha, Rajita·2017·NeuroImage

Abstract

Stress and negative affect are known contributors to drug use and relapse, and several known treatments for addictions include strategies for managing them. In the current study, we administered a well-established stress provocation during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to 23 participants who completed either mindfulness training (MT; N=11) or the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking (FFS; N=12), which is a cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for smoking cessation. Across the entire sample, we found that stress reactivity in several brain regions including the amygdala and anterior/mid insula was related to reductions in smoking after treatment, as well as at 3-month post-treatment follow-up. Moreover, conjunction analysis revealed that these same regions also differentiated between treatment groups such that the MT group showed lower stress-reactivity compared to the FFS/CBT group. This suggests that reduction in stress reactivity may be one of the mechanisms that underlie the efficacy of MT in reducing smoking over time. The findings have important implications for our understanding of stress, the neural and psychological mechanisms that underlie mindfulness-based treatments, and for smoking cessation treatments more broadly.

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  • In a RCT, an 8-week MBI for smoking cessation was associated with significantly less amygdala and insula activation during stress exposure relative to an active control condition, and reduced activity in these brain regions was associated with decreased smoking by follow-up.

    “in a RCT, an 8-week MBI for smoking cessation was associated with significantly less amygdala and insula activation during stress exposure relative to an active control condition, and reduced activity in these brain regions was associated with decreased smoking by follow-up [51].”

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Authors
Kober, H., Brewer, J. A., Height, K. L., & Sinha, R.
Affiliations
  • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US)
  • Yale University (US)
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-05
Volume
151
Pages
4-13
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2526221569
Cited by
75
References
156
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 2
FWCI
5.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network (American Medical Association) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (UL1TR001863)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (P50DA009241, PL1DA024859, K12DA000167)
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (UL1DE019586)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Keywords
stress reactivity, smoking cessation, mindfulness training, cognitive behavioral therapy, amygdala, insula, treatment response mechanisms, relapse, addiction treatment
MeSH terms
Cigarette Smoking, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Stress, Psychological, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Smoking Cessation, Treatment Outcome, Mindfulness

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