Neural Mechanisms Supporting the Regulation of Cigarette Craving

Abstract

Cigarette smoking remains one of the leading preventable causes of death and disease in the world (World Health Organization, 2008). Although smoking rates have declined over the past three decades, roughly 18 percent of the adult population in the United States smokes cigarettes on a regular basis (Agaku et al., 2014). Most adult smokers express a strong desire to stop smoking, with millions of individuals making an attempt to quit each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Unfortunately, however, the vast majority of these attempts end in relapse, defined as a return to smoking (Brandon et al., 2007; Piasecki, 2006). Recent estimates suggest that more than 95 percent of individuals who attempt to quit smoking without seeking treatment relapse within one year (Hughes et al., 2004). Relapse rates remain high even for those who receive intense pharmacological and/or psychosocial interventions during a cessation attempt, with an estimated 70 percent or more of such individuals returning to smoking within one year (Piasecki, 2006).