A study on the relationship between abnormally effective connections in the nucleus accumbens and the severity of nicotine addicts
10.3760/cma.j.cn113661-20220714-00192
- VernacularTitle:伏隔核的异常有效连接与尼古丁成瘾者依赖程度的关系研究
- Author:
Xinyu GAO
1
;
Mengzhe ZHANG
1
;
Zhengui YANG
1
;
Xiaoyu NIU
1
;
Weijian WANG
1
;
Jingliang CHENG
1
;
Yong ZHANG
1
Author Information
1. 郑州大学第一附属医院磁共振科，郑州 450002
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Nicotine addiction;
Nucleus accumbens;
Magnetic resonance imaging;
Granger causality analysis
- From:
Chinese Journal of Psychiatry
2022;55(6):429-435
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:Based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance (rs-fMRI), aim to investigate the effects of mild and severe nicotine addiction on the directional functional connectivity of brain nucleus accumbens (NAc), and to explore the relationship between the abnormal connectivity and the clinical characteristics of nicotine addiction.Methods:71 nicotine addicts were screened and divided into the mild nicotine addiction group (35 cases) and the severe nicotine addiction group (36 cases). Both of them and additional 40 healthy volunteers underwent the rs-fMRI scan. Their effective connectivities between bilateral NAc and the whole brain, detected by Granger Causality Analysis (GCA), were analysed with Spearman correlation to explore the correlation with the clinical characteristics of nicotine addiction.Results:Compared with the healthy control group, the effective connectivities of left NAc to left orbitofrontal superior frontal gyrus, right NAc to the left caudate nucleus, bilateral orbitofrontal superior frontal gyrus/left middle frontal gyrus to left NAc, right orbitofrontal superior frontal gyrus/right parietal inferior to right NAc were weakened in nicotine addicted group. The effective connectivities from left NAc to left inferior parietal gyrus, left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus, and right inferior cerebellar lobe to the left NAc were enhanced. Compared with mild nicotine dependence, the effective connectivities from left NAc to left inferior parietal gyrus, left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus were enhanced in severe nicotine addicts. After adjusting for age, education level, and grey matter volume, GCA values from left NAc to left inferior parietal gyrus and left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus were positively correlated with FTND score ( r=0.433, P<0.001; r=0.492, P<0.001). GCA from left NAc to left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus was positively correlated with the smoking index ( r=0.311, P=0.013). Conclusion:Effective connectivity in the nucleus accumbens and frontoparietal lobes was altered in nicotine addicts compared with healthy controls. This change may be associated with the severity of nicotine addicts.
