Amygdala response to smoking-cessation messages mediates the effects of serotonin transporter gene variation on quitting.

ABSTRACT: The amygdala is critically involved in detecting emotionally salient stimuli and in enhancing memory for emotional information. Growing evidence also suggests that the amygdala plays a crucial role in addiction, perhaps by strengthening associations between emotionally-charged drug cues and drug-seeking behavior. In the current study, by integrating functional MRI (fMRI), genetics, and outcome data from a large group of smokers who completed a smoking-cessation intervention and attempted to quit, we show that the amygdala also plays a role in quitting. Specifically, we demonstrate that the amygdala response to smoking-cessation messages in smokers trying to quit is a predictor of their post-intervention quitting outcome. We further show that the amygdala response is modulated by genetic va

SUBMITTER: Jasinska AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3288964 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature