Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition and Cigarette Smoking in Late Adolescence

Abstract

Smoking is usually initiated in adolescence, and is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Little is known, however, about the links between smoking and neurobiological function in adolescent smokers. This study aimed to probe prefrontal cortical function in late adolescent smokers, using a response inhibition task, and to assess possible relationships between inhibition-related brain activity, clinical features of smoking behavior, and exposure to cigarette smoking. Participants in this study were otherwise healthy late adolescent smokers (15-21 years of age; n ¼ 25), who reported daily smoking for at least the 6 months before testing, and age-and education-matched nonsmokers (16-21 years of age; n ¼ 25), who each reported smoking fewer than five cigarettes in their lifetimes. The subjects performed the Stop-signal Task, while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. There were no significant group differences in prefrontal cortical activity during response inhibition, but the Heaviness of Smoking Index, a measure of smoking behavior and dependence, was negatively related to neural function in cortical regions of the smokers. These findings suggest that smoking can modulate prefrontal cortical function. Given the late development of the prefrontal cortex, which continues through adolescence, it is possible that smoking may influence the trajectory of brain development during this critical developmental period.

Cigarette Exposure, Dependence, and Craving Are Related to Insula Thickness in Young Adult Smokers

“…Studies in adolescent animals also show that exposure to nicotine results in suppressed neural activity and persistent desensitization of cholinergic responses (Slotkin, 2008). Furthermore, prior studies by our research group using functional magnetic resonance imaging to study a subset of the participants in the present study have shown that the Heaviness of Smoking Index is related to brain activation during response inhibition and risky decision making in emergent adults (Galvan et al, 2011;Galvan et al, 2013), suggesting that alterations in brain function related to smoking may have a meaningful impact on behavior. Together, these studies begin to reveal a holistic picture of the effects of smoking on the developing brain, and future work to integrate these findings may lead to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms that support addiction.…”

“…As described in a previous report (Galvan et al, 2011), participants were recruited through online and print advertisements. After receiving a detailed explanation of the study (approved by the UCLA Institutional Review Board), participants X18 years of age gave written informed consent.…”

Systematic review of ERP and fMRI studies investigating inhibitory control and error processing in people

“…The findings of a study involving adolescents with nicotine dependence who abstained from smoking for 30-1050 minutes before scanning support this hypothesis. 64 While adolescents with nicotine dependence and controls had similar accuracy rates and brain activation, the study found that severity of smoking within those with nicotine dependence was associated with lower activation in regions critically involved in inhibitory control (i.e., ACC, SMA, left IFG, left orbitofrontal cortex [OFC], bilateral MFG and right SFG).…”

Genetic Risk For Nicotine Dependence in the Cholinergic System and Activation of the Brain Reward System in Healthy Adolescents

“…Already at early stages of smoking, the degree of smoking behavior and dependence, assessed by the Heaviness of Smoking Index (Robinson and Kolb, 1997), was negatively associated with the response in the prefrontal cortex during response inhibition (Borland et al, 2010). Furthermore, the response in the prefrontal cortex was significantly lower in adolescent smokers compared with non-smokers during response inhibition (Galván et al, 2011), and a working memory task in smoking abstinent adolescents (Musso et al, 2007). In addition, clinical features of smoking behaviors-cigarette dependence and number of cigarettes smoked per day-were negatively related to cortical activity during response inhibition (Galván et al, 2011).…”