Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026
Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
Published on: August 6, 2013
Multi-site exploration of sex differences in brain reactivity to smoking cues: Consensus across sites and
Kelly M Dumais1, Teresa R Franklin2, Kanchana Jagannathan2
1McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School,115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA.
Background:
Biological sex influences cigarette smoking behavior. More men than women smoke, but women have a harder time quitting. Sex differences in smoking cue (SC) reactivity may underlie such behavioral differences. However, the influence of sex on brain reactivity to SCs has yielded inconsistent findings suggesting the need for continued study. Here, we investigated the effect of sex on SC reactivity across two sites using different imaging modalities and SC stimulus types.
Methods:
Pseudo-continuous arterial spin-labeled (pCASL) perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess brain responses to SC versus non-SC videos in 40 smokers (23 females) at the University of Pennsylvania. BOLD fMRI was used to assess brain responses to SC versus non-SC still images in 32 smokers (18 females) at McLean Hospital. Brain reactivity to SCs was compared between men and women and was correlated with SC-induced craving.
Results:
In both cohorts, males showed higher SC versus non-SC reactivity compared to females in reward-related brain regions (i.e., ventral striatum/ventral pallidum, ventral medial prefrontal cortex). Brain activation during SC versus non-SC exposure correlated positively with SC-induced subjective craving in males, but not females.
Conclusions:
The current work provides much needed replication and validation of sex differences in SC-reactivity. These findings also add to a body of literature showing that men have greater reward-related brain activation to drug cues across drug classes. Such sex differences confirm the need to consider sex not only when evaluating SC-reactivity but when examining nicotine dependence etiology and treatment.
More Related Videos
09:50Impact Assessment of Repeated Exposure of Organotypic 3D Bronchial and Nasal Tissue Culture Models to Whole Cigarette Smoke
Published on: February 12, 2015
06:39Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements
Published on: August 28, 2017
