ArticleArchives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists2019
Nicotine Effects on White Matter Microstructure in Young Adults.
Article in Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Influence of Cannabis and Nicotine Co-use on Neuromaturation: A Systematic Review of Adolescent and Young Adult Studies.Biological psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- White matter signatures of addiction diverge across opioids, cannabis and nicotine and predict impulsive choice in cannabis dependence.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Microstructural brain changes in Buerger's disease and smokers: a case-control study using diffusion tensor imaging.BMC medical imaging · 2026Article
- Early nicotine initiation and white matter integrity: Associations from late childhood to mid-adolescence.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces nicotine dependence and potentially modulates white matter microstructure in smokers: a pilot study by diffusion spectrum imaging.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Age of onset of nicotine use and severity of nicotine addiction symptoms are associated with hippocampal volume in late adolescents and emerging adults.Frontiers in adolescent medicine · 2025Article
- Imaging neuroinflammation in individuals with substance use disorders.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Review
- Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) of Brain Microstructure in Adolescent Cannabis and Nicotine Use.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Young Adult E-Cigarette and Combustible Tobacco Users Attitudes, Substance Use Behaviors, Mental Health, and Neurocognitive Performance.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- The Effects of Nicotine and Cannabis Co-Use During Late Adolescence on White Matter Fiber Tract Microstructure.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2022Article
- The effects of nicotine and cannabis co-use during adolescence and young adulthood on white matter cerebral blood flow estimates.Psychopharmacology · 2020Article
- Evaluating the Changes of White Matter Microstructures in Tobacco Addicts Based on Diffusion Tensor Imaging.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2020Article
- Association between brain morphometry and aerobic fitness level and sex in healthy emerging adults.PloS one · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveNicotine use is widely prevalent among youth, and is associated with white matter microstructural changes as measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). In adults, nicotine use is generally associated with lower fractional anisotropy (FA), but in adolescents/young adults (≤30 years), microstructure appears healthier, indicated by higher FA. This cross-sectional study examined associations between nicotine use and white matter microstructure using fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) in young adults.
methodsFifty-three participants (18 nicotine users [10 female]/35 controls [17 female]) ages 18-25 underwent MRI scan, neuropsychological battery, toxicology screening, and drug use interview. Nicotine group associations with FA and MD were examined in various white matter tracts. In significant tracts, AD and RD were measured. Exploratory correlations were conducted between significant tracts and verbal memory and sustained attention/working memory performance.
resultsNicotine users exhibited significantly lower FA than controls in the left anterior thalamic radiation, left inferior longitudinal fasciculus, left superior longitudinal fasciculus-temporal, and left uncinate fasciculus. In these tracts, AD and RD did not differ, nor did MD differ in any tract. White matter quality was positively correlated with sustained attention/working memory performance.
conclusionsCigarette smoking may disrupt white matter microstructure. These results are consistent with adult studies, but inconsistent with adolescent/young adult studies, likely due to methodological and sample age differences. Further studies should examine longitudinal effects of nicotine use on white matter microstructure in a larger sample.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.