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. 2023 Mar 17:17:1153976.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1153976. eCollection 2023.

Increased spontaneous activity of the superior frontal gyrus with reduced functional connectivity to visual attention areas and cerebellum in male smokers

Xiaoyu Niu  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Xinyu Gao  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Qingqing Lv  9 , Mengzhe Zhang  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Jinghan Dang  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Jieping Sun  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Weijian Wang  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Yarui Wei  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Jingliang Cheng  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Shaoqiang Han  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Yong Zhang  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8
Affiliations

Increased spontaneous activity of the superior frontal gyrus with reduced functional connectivity to visual attention areas and cerebellum in male smokers

Xiaoyu Niu et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

Background: Chronic smokers have abnormal spontaneous regional activity and disrupted functional connectivity as revealed by previous neuroimaging studies. Combining different dimensions of resting-state functional indicators may help us learn more about the neuropathological mechanisms of smoking.

Methods: The amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of 86 male smokers and 56 male non-smokers were first calculated. Brain regions that displayed significant differences in ALFF between two groups were selected as seeds for further functional connectivity analysis. Besides, we examined correlations between brain areas with abnormal activity and smoking measurements.

Results: Increased ALFF in left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) as well as decreased ALFF in right calcarine sulcus were observed in smokers compared with non-smokers. In the seed-based functional connectivity analysis, smokers showed attenuated functional connectivity with left SFG in left precuneus, left fusiform gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left cerebellum 4 5 and cerebellum 6 as well as lower functional connectivity with left mSGF in left fusiform gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), left calcarine sulcus, left cerebellum 4 5, cerebellum 6 and cerebellum 8 (GRF corrected, Pvoxel < 0.005, Pcluster<0.05). Furthermore, attenuated functional connectivity with left mSGF in left lingual gyrus and PHG displayed a negative correlation with FTND scores (r = -0.308, p = 0.004; r = -0.326, p = 0.002 Bonferroni corrected).

Conclusion: Our findings of increased ALFF in SFG with reduced functional connectivity to visual attention areas and cerebellum subregions may shed new light on the pathophysiology of smoking.

Keywords: amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF); cigarette smoking; functional connectivity (FC); superior frontal gyrus; visual attention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Compared with non-smokers, smokers showed significant differences in ALFF. Regions of increased ALFF were shown in red. Regions of decreased ALFF were shown in blue.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Altered resting-state functional connectivity with the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and left medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG). Brain regions with decreased functional connectivity to the left SFG are shown in panel (A). Brain regions with decreased functional connectivity to the left mSFG are shown in panel (B).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Correlations between mSFG–left lingual gyrus/parahippocampal gyrus rs-FC and the FTND scores in smokers. mSFG, medial superior frontal gyrus; FTND, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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