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Greater risk sensitivity of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in young smokers than in nonsmokers

Psychopharmacology volume 229, pages 345–355 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Rationale

Despite a national reduction in the prevalence of cigarette smoking, ~19 % of the adult US population persists in this behavior, with the highest prevalence among 18–25-year-olds. Given that the choice to smoke imposes a known health risk, clarification of brain function related to decision-making, particularly involving risk-taking, in smokers may inform prevention and smoking cessation strategies.

Objectives

This study aimed to compare brain function related to decision-making in young smokers and nonsmokers.

Methods

The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) is a computerized risky decision-making task in which participants pump virtual balloons, each pump associated with an incremental increase in potential payoff on a given trial but also with greater risk of balloon explosion and loss of payoff. We used this task to compare brain activation associated with risky decision-making in smokers (n = 18) and nonsmokers (n = 25), while they performed the BART during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The participants were young men and women, 17–21 years of age.

Results

Risk level (number of pumps) modulated brain activation in the right dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices more in smokers than in nonsmokers, and smoking severity (Heaviness of Smoking Index) was positively related to this modulation in an adjacent frontal region.

Conclusions

Given evidence for involvement of the right dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices in inhibitory control, these findings suggest that young smokers have a different contribution of prefrontal cortical substrates to risky decision-making than nonsmokers. Future studies are warranted to determine whether the observed neurobiological differences precede or result from smoking.

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Acknowledgments

The research described in this article was funded, in part, by a grant from Philip Morris USA under UCLA contract 20063287. Additional funding was provided by an endowment from the Thomas P. and Katherine K. Pike, Chair in Addiction Studies, and a gift from the Marjorie M. Greene Trust. M Kohno was supported by an institutional training grant, T32 DA024635. All experimental procedures comply with current laws of the United States of America.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Adriana Galván

  2. Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Adriana Galván & Edythe D. London

  3. Imaging Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Tom Schonberg, Jeanette Mumford & Russell A. Poldrack

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Jeanette Mumford & Russell A. Poldrack

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Milky Kohno & Edythe D. London

  6. Department of Neurobiology, University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Russell A. Poldrack

  7. Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Edythe D. London

  8. Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90024-1759, USA

    Edythe D. London

Authors
  1. Adriana Galván
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  2. Tom Schonberg
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  3. Jeanette Mumford
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  4. Milky Kohno
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  5. Russell A. Poldrack
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  6. Edythe D. London
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edythe D. London.

Additional information

Adriana Galván and Tom Schonberg contributed equally to this work.

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Galván, A., Schonberg, T., Mumford, J. et al. Greater risk sensitivity of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in young smokers than in nonsmokers. Psychopharmacology 229, 345–355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3113-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3113-x

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