Masked smoking‐related images modulate brain activity in smokers

The questions of whether and how indiscriminate drug‐related stimuli could influence drug‐users are important to our understanding of addictive behavior, but the answers are still inconclusive. In the present preliminary functional magnetic resonance imaging study using a backward masking paradigm, the effect of indiscriminate smoking‐related stimuli on 10 smokers and 10 nonsmokers was examined. The BOLD response showed a significant reduction (P = 0.001) in the right amygdala of smokers when they viewed but did not perceive masked smoking‐related stimuli, while no significant differences were found in the nonsmoker group. More voxels in anterior cingulate cortex were negatively correlated with the amygdala during the masked smoking‐related picture condition in smokers but not in nonsmokers, whereas more positively correlated voxels were observed during the masked neutral condition. The BOLD response in drug‐users indicates the amygdala responds to drug‐related stimuli that are below the perceptual threshold. The functional connectivity data suggest a functional interaction between the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex when drug users view 33ms back‐masked drug‐related stimuli. This observation suggests that the amygdala plays an important role in the indiscriminate drug‐related cue process. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.