Association between vmPFC gray matter volume and smoking initiation in adolescents

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 4684 - 13
• Main Authors: Xiang, Shitong, Jia, Tianye, Xie, Chao, Cheng, Wei, Chaarani, Bader, Banaschewski, Tobias, Barker, Gareth J., Bokde, Arun L. W., Büchel, Christian, Desrivières, Sylvane, Flor, Herta, Grigis, Antoine, Gowland, Penny A., Brühl, Rüdiger, Martinot, Jean-Luc, Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillère, Nees, Frauke, Orfanos, Dimitri Papadopoulos, Poustka, Luise, Hohmann, Sarah, Fröhner, Juliane H., Smolka, Michael N., Vaidya, Nilakshi, Walter, Henrik, Whelan, Robert, Garavan, Hugh, Schumann, Gunter, Sahakian, Barbara J., Robbins, Trevor W., Feng, Jianfeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.08.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 45/43; 631/378/2583; 631/378/2649; 692/53/2423; 692/699/476/5; Addictions; Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adolescents; Biomarkers; Brain; Child development; Cigarettes; Gray Matter; Gray Matter - diagnostic imaging; Health behavior; Hedonic response; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Life Sciences; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; multidisciplinary; Neuroimaging; Prefrontal Cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Public health; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensation; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Substantia grisea; Teenagers; Tobacco Use Disorder
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40079-2

Smoking of cigarettes among young adolescents is a pressing public health issue. However, the neural mechanisms underlying smoking initiation and sustenance during adolescence, especially the potential causal interactions between altered brain development and smoking behaviour, remain elusive. Here, using large longitudinal adolescence imaging genetic cohorts, we identify associations between left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) gray matter volume (GMV) and subsequent self-reported smoking initiation, and between right vmPFC GMV and the maintenance of smoking behaviour. Rule-breaking behaviour mediates the association between smaller left vmPFC GMV and smoking behaviour based on longitudinal cross-lagged analysis and Mendelian randomisation. In contrast, smoking behaviour associated longitudinal covariation of right vmPFC GMV and sensation seeking (especially hedonic experience) highlights a potential reward-based mechanism for sustaining addictive behaviour. Taken together, our findings reveal vmPFC GMV as a possible biomarker for the early stages of nicotine addiction, with implications for its prevention and treatment. The relationship between brain development and smoking behaviour is not well understood. Here, the authors show an association between volume of the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex and smoking initiation in adolescents.