基于EEG-fMRI的青少年吸烟成瘾渴求神经机制研究

As the largest tobacco producer and consumer of world, China has 350 million smokers, including 14 million young smokers. Annual smoking-attributable deaths in China is 1 million per year now, which will rise to more than 3 million in 2050 as young smokers reach their middle and old age. With the help of functional MRI (fMRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, our understanding of smoking addiction was improved. However, few studies used EEG-fMRI to investigate the neural physiological characteristics of young smokers, which may synthesize high spatial resolution in fMRI and high time resolution in EEG. Especially, the changes of craving and cognitive control performance in young smokers were unclear, which is the core issues of smoking addiction. In present study, the neurophysiological mechanism of cognitive behavior and cue-induced craving in young smokers will be investigated by using EEG-fMRI. The present study will improve the understanding of the mechanism of smoking addiction, which may help to try TMS and tDCs intervention and withdrawal of young smokers. It is consistent with the national research strategy of brain and provide the support of methodology and technical route of brain research.

作为世界最大的烟草生产国和消费国，我国约有3.5亿吸烟者，其中1400万为青少年吸烟者，每年因为吸烟相关疾病去世的人数超过100万人，随着现在的青少年吸烟者进入中老年，这一数字将在2050年增加为每年因吸烟去世300万人。借助功能磁共振和脑电技术，对于吸烟成瘾神经机制的研究与认识正在不断的深入。然而采用EEG-fMRI同步采集技术，综合功能磁共振的空间分辨率优势和脑电的时间分辨率优势，针对处于吸烟行为源头的青少年吸烟成瘾的核心问题，即持续存在的渴求的研究还比较少。本研究将选取青少年吸烟者作为研究对象，立足于EEG-fMRI方法，探讨青少年吸烟者大脑渴求的神经机制和认知表现，在系统层面上为揭示其神经生理学机制提供有价值的资料，以期更加深入理解青少年吸烟成瘾的机制，并尝试采用经颅磁刺激和经颅直流电刺激尝试加以干预，同时结合国家脑研究计划的展开，为相关脑机制的探究提供方法论和技术路线支持。

项目针对既定研究目标，以青少年吸烟者为研究对象，采用磁共振图像处理和脑电信号处理技术，围绕渴求的神经机制这一核心问题，开展了以下下三方面的工作：（1）青少年吸烟者大脑前额叶-纹状体回路白质的结构变化；（2）考察了青少年吸烟者在戒断和满足状态下奖赏加工和认知控制的变化；（3）发展了处理医学图像的深度学习方法。本项目开展期间，在NeuroImage、Human Brain Mapping及Addiction Biology等期刊发表SCI论文27篇（封面文章1篇），中文核心论文15篇（其中CSSCI收录论文1篇），会议论文1篇，专著1部，并获得内蒙古自治区自然科学奖二等奖一项。