Smoker-nonsmoker differences in neural response to smoking-related and affective cues: An fMRI investigation

Smoking may sensitize brain systems to smoking cues while desensitizing systems to naturalistic rewards. This study examined smoker-nonsmoker differences in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to smoking-related and emotional images. Smokers, relative to nonsmokers, exhibited greater reactivity to smoking and decreased reactivity to emotional cues in the left middle frontal gyrus. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.