Lower subcortical gray matter volume in both younger smokers and established smokers relative to non-smokers
Open accessAbstract
Although established adult smokers with long histories of nicotine dependence have lower neural tissue volume than non-smokers, it is not clear if lower regional brain volume is also observed in younger, less established smokers. The primary goal of this study was to investigate neural tissue volume in a large group of smokers and non-smokers, with a secondary goal of measuring the impact of age on these effects. We used voxel-based morphometry to compare regional gray matter volume in 118 individuals (59 smokers, 59 age- and gender-matched non-smokers). Younger smokers had significantly lower gray matter volume in the left thalamus and the left amygdala than their non-smoking peers (family-wise error-corrected clusters, P < 0.05). There was no correlation between smoking use variables and tissue volume among younger smokers. Established smokers had significantly lower gray matter volume than age-matched non-smokers in the insula, parahippocampal gyrus and pallidum. Medial prefrontal cortex gray matter volume was negatively correlated with pack-years of smoking among the established smokers, but not the younger smokers. These data reveal that regional tissue volume differences are not limited exclusively to established smokers. Deficits in young adults indicate that cigarette smoking may either be deleterious to the thalamus and amygdala at an earlier age than previously reported, or that pre-existing differences in these areas may predispose individuals to the development of nicotine dependence.
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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 Hanlon et al., 2016
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The Insula: A Brain Stimulation Target for the Treatment of Addiction
Ibrahim, C., Rubin-Kahana, D. S., Pushparaj, A., Musiol, M., Blumberger, D. M., Daskalakis, Z. J., Zangen, A., & Le Foll, B. (2019) · Frontiers in Pharmacology · doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.00720 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Sutherland, M. T., Riedel, M. C., Flannery, J. S., Yanes, J. A., Fox, P. T., Stein, E. A., & Laird, A. R. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Functions · doi:10.1186/s12993-016-0100-5 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hanlon, C. A., Owens, M. M., Joseph, J. E., Zhu, X., George, M. S., Brady, K. T., & Hartwell, K. J.
- Affiliations
- Medical University of South Carolina (US)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hanlon, Colleen A.
- Venue
- Addiction Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-08-13
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 185-195
- ISSN
- 1355-6215 (ISSN-L)
- 1369-1600
- PMC
- PMC4326619
- OpenAlex
- W1944157238
- Cited by
- 82
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 4.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Addiction Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical University of South Carolina
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21DA026085, R33 DA036085-03, K01DA027756)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR029882)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K12HD055885)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- cigarette smoking, gray matter volume, subcortical structures, thalamus, amygdala, insula, parahippocampal gyrus, globus pallidus, medial prefrontal cortex, nicotine dependence, pack-years, age effects, young adult smokers
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Amygdala, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Globus Pallidus, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Smoking, Thalamus, Tobacco Use Disorder, Case-Control Studies, Prefrontal Cortex, Parahippocampal Gyrus, Young Adult, Gray Matter
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