A Study Of Resting State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) On Regional Homogeneity Changes Of Brain In Chronic Cigarette Smoking

Purpose:To assess the alterations in regional homogeneity(ReHo) of resting-state brain activity in chronic cigarette smokers.Methods:In the present study, fifty-five healthy smokers and thirty-three healthy non-smoking control subjects have been imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and analyzed with the regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach.Results:Compared with healthy controls, decreased ReHo was found in smokers in the bilateral inferior frontal cortex, right orbital frontal cortex,left middle prefrontal cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex,left precentral gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, left middle occipital cortex and left cerebellum tonsil and increased ReHo was found in the white matter of left superior temporal lobe. In post hoc analysis,there was negative correlation between mean regional ReHo values in the left middle occipital cortex and cigarettes per day.Conclusion:Our data suggested that, during resting state, neural function is less synchronized in the bilateral inferior frontal cortex, right orbital frontal cortex,left middle prefrontal cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex,left precentral gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, left middle occipital cortex and left cerebellum tonsil and more synchronized in the white matter of left temporal lobe in chronic smokers compared to nonsmokers. The brain areas of the decreased ReHo mainly involved visuospatial attention system and motor system.Moreover,there was negative correlation between mean regional ReHo values in the left middle occipital cortex and cigarettes per day in post hoc analysis.These results may be helpful in better understanding of the neurobiological consequences of chronic smoking.