Measuring Neuroadaptations in Response to Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes

In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, dependent smokers will be randomized to a 6-week very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarette condition (N=50) or a 6-week normal nicotine content cigarette control condition (NNC; N=25). Participants will undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans at baseline and 6-weeks to investigate the nicotine-related modulation of brain circuitry involved in incentive salience valuation and executive control. Imaging tasks will engage the incentive salience of smoking cues and non-smoking rewards and executive control functions to identify changes in functional activity within, and effective connectivity between, known salience and executive control brain circuitry. A novel fMRI task using specialized odor presentation equipment and fMRI sequences will assess neural cue reactivity to smoke odors.