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Smoking withdrawal is associated with increases in brain activation during decision making and reward anticipation: a preliminary study

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An Erratum to this article was published on 18 October 2011

Abstract

Rationale

Acute nicotine abstinence is associated with disruption of executive function and reward processes; however, the neurobiological basis of these effects has not been fully elucidated.

Methods

The effects of nicotine abstinence on brain function during reward-based probabilistic decision making were preliminarily investigated by scanning adult smokers (n = 13) following 24 h of smoking abstinence and in a smoking-satiated condition. During fMRI scanning, participants completed the wheel of fortune task (Ernst et al. in Neuropsychologia 42:1585–1597, 2004), a decision-making task with probabilistic monetary outcomes. Brain activation was modeled during selection of options, anticipation of outcomes, and outcome feedback.

Results

During choice selection, reaction times were slower, and there was greater neural activation in the postcentral gyrus, insula, and frontal and parietal cortices in the abstinent condition compared to the satiated condition. During reward anticipation, greater activation was observed in the frontal pole, insula, and paracingulate cortex in the abstinent condition compared to the satiated condition. Greater activation was also shown in the precentral gyrus and putamen in the satiated condition compared to the abstinent condition. During the outcome phase, rewards (compared to no rewards) resulted in significant activation in the paracingulate cortex in the satiated condition compared to the abstinent condition.

Conclusions

The results of this preliminary study suggest that smoking withdrawal results in greater recruitment of insular, frontal, and parietal cortical areas during probabilistic decision making.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Avery Lutz for her assistance with data acquisition. This research was supported by NIDA grants K23DA017261 and R01 DA023516 to FJM, R03 MH078145 and K23 MH081285 to GSD, and K23 MH087754 to MJS.

Disclosure/conflict of interest

Dr. Addicott, Mr. Baranger, Ms. Kozink, Dr. Smoski, and Dr. Dichter report no conflicts of interest. Dr. McClernon has received research funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Atkins Foundation, and an unrestricted grant from Philip Morris USA to Duke University (Dr. Jed E. Rose, PI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Box 2701, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Merideth A. Addicott, David A. A. Baranger, Rachel V. Kozink, Moria J. Smoski, Gabriel S. Dichter & F. Joseph McClernon

  2. Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Merideth A. Addicott, David A. A. Baranger, Rachel V. Kozink, Moria J. Smoski, Gabriel S. Dichter & F. Joseph McClernon

  3. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Gabriel S. Dichter

  4. Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, VISN 6 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    F. Joseph McClernon

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  1. Merideth A. Addicott
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  2. David A. A. Baranger
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  3. Rachel V. Kozink
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Correspondence to F. Joseph McClernon.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2531-x

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Addicott, M.A., Baranger, D.A.A., Kozink, R.V. et al. Smoking withdrawal is associated with increases in brain activation during decision making and reward anticipation: a preliminary study. Psychopharmacology 219, 563–573 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2404-3

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