Association between vmPFC gray matter volume and smoking initiation in adolescents.

ABSTRACT: Smoking of cigarettes among young adolescents is a pressing public health issue. However, the neural mechanisms underlying smoking initiation and sustenance during adolescence, especially the potential causal interactions between altered brain development and smoking behaviour, remain elusive. Here, using large longitudinal adolescence imaging genetic cohorts, we identify associations between left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) gray matter volume (GMV) and subsequent self-reported smoking initiation, and between right vmPFC GMV and the maintenance of smoking behaviour. Rule-breaking behaviour mediates the association between smaller left vmPFC GMV and smoking behaviour based on longitudinal cross-lagged analysis and Mendelian randomisation. In contrast, smoking behaviour associated

SUBMITTER: Xiang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10427673 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature