Cited by 160Smoking Behavior and CessationNicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors StudyFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

Current smoking and reduced gray matter volume - a voxel-based morphometry study

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Fritz, Hans-Christian, Wittfeld, Katrin, Schmidt, Carsten O, Domin, Martin, Grabe, Hans J, Hegenscheid, Katrin, Hosten, Norbert, Lotze, Martin·2014·Neuropsychopharmacology

Abstract

Nicotine modulates prefrontal processing when tested with functional imaging. Previous studies on changes in regional brain volumes in small samples, reporting different life-time exposure to nicotine, identified reduced volume in smokers in prefrontal areas but reported controversial results for other areas. We investigated the association of cigarette smoking and regional gray and white matter volume by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) for T1-weighted high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging in 315 current-smokers and 659 never-smokers from the representative Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Our study showed that in current-smokers smoking is significantly associated with gray matter volume loss in the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the insula, and the olfactory gyrus. White matter volumes were not relevantly reduced in current-smokers. In current-smokers, we found associations of gray matter loss and smoking exposure (pack-years) in the prefrontal cortex, the anterior and middle cingulate cortex, and the superior temporal and angular gyrus, which however did not stand corrections for multiple testing. We confirmed associations between smoking and gray matter differences in the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex and the insula in the general population of Pomerania (Germany). For the first time, we identified differences in brain volumes in the olfactory gyrus. Other cerebral regions did not show significant differences when correcting for multiple comparisons within the whole brain. The regions of structural deficits might be involved in addictive behavior and withdrawal symptoms, whereas further investigations have to show if the observed atrophies were caused by smoking itself or are preexisting differences between smoking and non-smoking individuals.

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  • In smokers, cortical thickness and gray matter density of the insula is significantly decreased compared to non-smokers.

    “In smokers, researchers have found that cortical thickness and gray matter density of the insula is significantly decreased compared to non-smokers (Fritz et al., 2014; Li et al., 2015; Hanlon et al., 2016; Stoeckel et al., 2016).”

    From The Insula: A Brain Stimulation Target for the Treatment of Addiction (2019) · cites this paper as Fritz et al., 2014

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  1. Belanger HG, Simmons V, Schinka J (2007). Nicotine. In: Neuropsychology and Substance Misuse: State of the the Art and Future Directions. Henningfield JE, London ED and Pogun, S (eds). Psychology Press: East Sussex, UK. pp 227-262.

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Authors
Fritz, H.-C., Wittfeld, K., Schmidt, C. O., Domin, M., Grabe, H. J., Hegenscheid, K., Hosten, N., & Lotze, M.
Affiliations
  • Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE)
  • German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
Venue
Neuropsychopharmacology
Published
2014-04-29
Volume
39
Issue
11
Pages
2594-2600
ISSN
  • 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
  • 1740-634X
OpenAlex
W2093691918
Cited by
160
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 1
FWCI
9.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DZNE Pub (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (03ZIK012)
  • Siemens
  • Ministry of Cultural Affairs
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
cigarette smoking, gray matter volume, white matter volume, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, pack-years, brain atrophy, nicotine, addiction, Study of Health in Pomerania
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Smoking, Tobacco Use Disorder, White Matter, Gray Matter

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