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Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
Published on: March 19, 2014
Blunted striatal responses to favorite-food cues in smokers
Ania M Jastreboff1, Rajita Sinha2, Cheryl M Lacadie3
1Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Background:
Although tobacco-smoking is associated with relatively leaner body mass and smoking cessation with weight gain, the brain mechanisms underlying these relationships are not well understood. Smokers compared to non-smokers have shown diminished neural responses to non-tobacco rewarding stimuli (e.g., monetary rewards), but brain responses to favorite-food cues have not been investigated relative to smoking status. We hypothesized that smokers would exhibit diminished neural responses compared to non-smokers in response to favorite-food cues in motivation-reward and emotion-regulating regions of the brain.
Methods:
Twenty-three smokers and 23 non-smokers matched based on body mass index (BMI), age, and gender listened to personalized favorite-food cue, stress, and neutral-relaxing audiotapes during fMRI.
Results:
During favorite-food cue exposure, smokers versus non-smokers exhibited diminished activations in the caudate, putamen, insula, and thalamus. Neural responses during stress and neutral-relaxing conditions were similar across groups. Subjective food-craving ratings were similar across groups.
Conclusions:
The relatively diminished neural responses to favorite-food cues in smokers may contribute to lower BMI.
