title: Regional Homogeneity Changes in Nicotine Addicts by Resting-State fMRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To reveal the brain functional changes of nicotine addicts compared with those of non-smokers and explore the objective biomarker for nicotine dependence evaluation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 14 smokers and 11 non-smoking controls were recruited for this study. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were applied in the neural activity analysis. Two-sample t-test was performed to examine the voxel-wise difference between the smokers and the controls. Correlation analysis between the ReHo values and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scores were performed to explore the biomarkers for the clinical characteristics of smokers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ReHo values from the right superior frontal gyrus of the Brodmann's area (BA) 9 to the right middle frontal gyrus and the ReHo value from the left and right precuneus (BA 23) to the left and right middle cingulum gyrus were lower in the smokers than in the non-smokers. The ReHo value in the precuneus (BA 23) was significantly and positively correlated with the FTND score of smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ReHo values in the right superior frontal gyrus and left precuneus can be used to separate the smokers from the non-smokers. In particular, the left precuneus is a potential neuroimaging biomarker for nicotine addicts.
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Geosci and Info-physics, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Shaofeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000187:drug effects; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000633:toxicity*; D012907:Smoking; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009538:Nicotine