Neural correlates of tobacco cue reactivity predict duration to lapse and continuous abstinence in smoking cessation treatment

It has been hypothesized that neural reactivity to drug cues in certain limbic/paralimbic regions of the brain is an indicator of addiction severity and a marker for likelihood of success in treatment. To address this question, in the current study, 32 participants (44 percent female) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging cigarette cue exposure paradigm 2 hours after smoking, and then enrolled in a 9-week smoking cessation treatment …