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• Clinical Article •
Alterations of spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity in chronic smokers: A resting state magnetic resonance imaging study
LIU Yuancheng  WANG Di  ZHANG Xiaoyong  WU Mingfeng  CHEN Hanwei  LIU Xinfeng  LIAO Dan 

DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.01.002.


[Abstract] Objective To detect the alterations of spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity (FC) in chronic smokers employed the method of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) combined with FC.Materials and Methods A total of 27 chronic smokers and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in this current study, which was matched with age and gender. All participants underwent neuropsychological assessments and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans. The DPABI 6.0 and SPM 12.0 software were used to analyze the brain regions with abnormal ALFF values. The brain region with abnormal ALFF values was selected as the see region of interest (ROI) for the whole brain functional connectivity analysis.Results Compared with the health controls, the chronic smokers exhibited increased ALFF value in the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and a decreased ALFF value in the right cerebellar hemispheres. Additionally, the current study found increased FC between the left SFG and the left parietal gyrus, and we also found increased FC between the left SFG and the right parietal gyrus (GRF correction, voxel-level P < 0.001 cluster-level P < 0.05).Conclusions Abnormal brain activity and functional connectivity of the frontal gurus, parietal gyrus and cerebellum may be the reason of addiction in chronic smokers, which may provide imaging evidence to reveal the neurobiological mechanisms in chronic smokers.
[Keywords] chronic smoking；magnetic resonance imaging；amplitude of low frequency fluctuation；functional connectivity；superior parietal gyrus；spontaneous brain activity

LIU Yuancheng   WANG Di   ZHANG Xiaoyong   WU Mingfeng   CHEN Hanwei   LIU Xinfeng   LIAO Dan*  

Department of Radiology, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang 550002, China

Corresponding author: LIAO D, E-mail: 1478730074@qq.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-09-01
Accepted  2025-12-11
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.01.002
DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.01.002.

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