Key result
Chronic cigarette smoking was associated with globally higher resting brain entropy compared to non-smoking controls, indicating more irregularly fluctuating resting brain activity.
Why the study?
Does chronic cigarette smoking alter resting brain entropy compared to non-smokers?
Cross-Sectional (n=134)
No
Does chronic cigarette smoking alter resting brain entropy compared to non-smokers?
Chronic cigarette smoking is associated with globally increased resting brain entropy, suggesting more irregularly fluctuating resting brain activity that is moderated by sex and years of smoking.
Higher resting brain entropy in smokers warrants no clinical action; hypothesis-generating for neural effects and requires longitudinal confirmation.
Cigarette smoking is a chronic relapsing brain disorder, and remains a premier cause of morbidity and mortality. Functional neuroimaging has been used to assess differences in the mean strength of brain activity in smokers' brains, however less is known about the temporal dynamics within smokers' brains. Temporal dynamics is a key feature of a dynamic system such as the brain, and may carry information critical to understanding the brain mechanisms underlying cigarette smoking. We measured the temporal dynamics of brain activity using brain entropy (BEN) mapping and compared BEN between chronic non-deprived smokers and non-smoking controls. Because of the known sex differences in neural and behavioral smoking characteristics, comparisons were also made between males and females. Associations between BEN and smoking related clinical measures were assessed in smokers. Our data showed globally higher BEN in chronic smokers compared to controls. The escalated BEN was associated with more years of smoking in the right limbic area and frontal region. Female nonsmokers showed higher BEN than male nonsmokers in prefrontal cortex, insula, and precuneus, but the BEN sex difference in smokers was less pronounced. These findings suggest that BEN mapping may provide a useful tool for probing brain mechanisms related to smoking.
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Li et al. (2016) conducted a cross-sectional in Chronic cigarette smoking (n=134). Chronic cigarette smoking vs. Non-smoking controls was evaluated on Regional resting state brain activity dynamics measured by brain entropy (BEN) mapping (p=<0.05). Chronic cigarette smoking was associated with globally higher resting brain entropy compared to non-smoking controls, indicating more irregularly fluctuating resting brain activity.
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