Smoking, starting as a teenager impairs gray matter

Starting smoking as a teenager reduces brain volume. A new study published in the journal explains it Nature Communications which revealed how those who started around the age of 14 have less gray matter in a specific cerebral section of the left frontal lobe – and then also of the right one, as a possible consequence – a part of the large area of ​​cerebral cortex that constitutes the anterior portion of each hemisphere of the human brain. In the first case, it is a portion associated with the decisions and social behaviors that lead to break the rules.

The gray matter, i.e. the brain tissue that processes information, contains all the neurons of the prodigious organ. Although brain development continues into adulthood, gray matter growth peaks before adolescence. In short, the survey says that starting to smoke just after the peak compromises the quantity. The research team, which brought together scientists from the universities of Cambridge and Warwick and Fudan University in China, analyzed brain imaging and behavioral data from over 800 young people in different stages of their development (at 14, 19 and 23 years). Among other things, the experts also hypothesized that the volume of matter in the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex may act as a Hereditary biomarker for nicotine addictiona finding with significant implications for strategies related to kicking that bad habit.

But the survey led them to understand how smokers flaunt too a reduced amount of gray matter in the opposite side, i.e. the right onefrom the same brain region. Observing that the loss of gray matter in the right prefrontal cortex appeared increase just after an individual had started smoking. This region is associated with sensation-seeking behavior. The implications? According to experts, the reduction of gray matter in the left forebrain could compromise some cognitive functions, leading for example to a certain degree of «disinhibition» as impulsive behaviors that break the rules due to an impaired ability to consider consequences. In turn, this condition could affect the smoking habit at an early age.

In short, it would be a sort of chain. As nicotine addiction develops, researchers have noted that the gray matter in the right frontal lobe tended to shrink. A consequence that they believe could undermine control over smoking by affecting “hedonic motivation”, which refers to the way pleasure is sought and managed. Not only that, excessive gray matter loss in the right brain is linked to binge drinking and cannabis use. Overall, then, the researchers believe their findings point to a damaged neurobehavioral mechanism that may go some way to contributing to the early initiation of nicotine use and the development of long-term addiction.

“The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is a key region for dopamine, the brain’s pleasure chemical. In addition to playing a role in rewarding experiences, dopamine has long been thought to affect self-control,” he said. Barbara Sahakian of the Cambridge department of psychiatry, one of the co-authors – less gray matter in this region of the brain can limit cognitive functionleading to less self-control and a propensity for risky behaviors, such as smoking.

The study used data collected by the project image from sites in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany. The researchers compared brain imaging data from participants who had smoked at age 14 with those who hadn’t, and obviously repeated this process for the same participants at ages 19 and 23. Well, data at age 23 showed that continued smoking led to a more rapid reduction in gray matter volume in the right prefrontal cortex, suggesting that smoking itself may affect prefrontal function.

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