Brain Marker Links Stress and Nicotine Abstinence.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Subjective stress is a well-documented predictor of early smoking relapse, yet our understanding of stress and tobacco use is limited by reliance on self-reported measures of stress. We utilized a validated functional neuroimaging paradigm to examine whether stress exposure during early abstinence alters objective measures of brain function. METHODS:Seventy-five participants underwent blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) on two occasions: once during smoking satiety and once following biochemically confirmed 24-hour abstinence (order counterbalanced). The primary outcome measure was brain response during stress (vs. control) blocks of the MIST, assessed using whole-brain analysis corrected for multiple comparisons using clusters determined by Z ≥ 3.1. RESULTS:Abstinence (vs. satiety) was associated with significantly increased activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus, a brain region associated with inhibitory control. Abstinence-induced change in brain response to stress was positively associated with change in self-reported stress. CONCLUSIONS:This study provides objective evidence that the brain response to stress is altered during the first 24 hours of a quit attempt compared to smoking satiety. IMPLICATIONS:These results point to the potential value of inoculating smokers with stress management training prior to a quit attempt.

SUBMITTER: Allenby C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7249912 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature