METHODS
We examined MRI scans from patients with schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders or bipolar disorder and healthy controls using FreeSurfer.
RESULTS
We included 506 patients (49% smokers) and 237 controls (20% smokers) in our study. We found reduced cortical thickness in the left rostral ACC and the left INS in smoking patients compared with nonsmoking patients, but this difference was not found among healthy controls. No dose-response relationship was found between amount of smoking and cortical thickness in these regions. Among patients, maps of thickness along the whole cortical surface revealed reduced insular thickness but no effects in other regions. Among healthy controls, similar analyses revealed increased age-related cortical thinning in the left occipital lobe among smokers compared with nonsmokers.
LIMITATIONS
The causal direction could not be determined owing to the cross-sectional design and lack of detailed data on smoking addiction and smoking history.
CONCLUSION
The effect of cigarette smoking should be considered in MRI studies of patients with severe mental illness.
Link til artikkel
- Forfattere: Jørgensen, Kjetil Nordbø; Skjærvø, Ingeborg; Mørch-Johnsen, Lynn; Haukvik, Unn Kristin H.; Lange, Elisabeth; Melle, Ingrid; Andreassen, Ole Andreas; Agartz, Ingrid.
- Publisert: Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience 2015 ;Volum 40.(4) s. 241-249