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Imaging Tobacco Smoking with PET and SPECT

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Book cover The Neuropharmacology of Nicotine Dependence

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 24))

Abstract

Receptor imaging, including positron emission computed tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), provides a way to measure chemicals of interest, such as receptors, and neurotransmitter fluctuations, in the living human brain. Imaging the neurochemical mechanisms involved in the maintenance and recovery from tobacco smoking has provided insights into critical smoking related brain adaptations. Nicotine, the primary addictive chemical in tobacco smoke, enters the brain, activates beta2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (β2*-nAChRs) and, like most drugs of abuse, elicits dopamine (DA) release in the ventral striatum. Both β2*-nAChRs and DA signaling are critical neurosubstrates underlying tobacco smoking behaviors and dependence and have been studied extensively with PET and SPECT brain imaging. We review the imaging literature on these topics and describe how brain imaging has helped inform the treatment of tobacco smoking.

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Acknowledgments

Funding K02 DA031750 (Cosgrove) and K01 MH092681 (Esterlis).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 2 Church Street South, Suite 511, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Kelly P. Cosgrove, Irina Esterlis, Christine Sandiego & Evan D. Morris

  2. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale PET Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 2 Church Street South, Suite 511, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Kelly P. Cosgrove, Irina Esterlis & Evan D. Morris

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale PET Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 2 Church Street South, Suite 511, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Ryan Petrulli & Evan D. Morris

Authors
  1. Kelly P. Cosgrove
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  2. Irina Esterlis
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  3. Christine Sandiego
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  4. Ryan Petrulli
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  5. Evan D. Morris
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kelly P. Cosgrove .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ninewells Hospital, University of Dundee Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom

    David J.K. Balfour

  2. School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Marcus R. Munafò

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Cosgrove, K.P., Esterlis, I., Sandiego, C., Petrulli, R., Morris, E.D. (2015). Imaging Tobacco Smoking with PET and SPECT. In: Balfour, D., Munafò, M. (eds) The Neuropharmacology of Nicotine Dependence. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13482-6_1

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