Grey matter morphometry in young adult e-cigarette users, tobacco cigarette users & non-using controls

About this episode

The episode discusses a study on the effects of e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette use on the brain morphology of young adults.

There’s been a fair amount of animal data suggesting that nicotine can affect the developing brain, but there hadn’t been the equivalent human studies done on people whose brains are still developing. And today there are two predominant forms of nicotine delivery - tobacco cigarettes, and e-cigarettes, or vaping. Laurie Zawertailo is a senior scientist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and an associate professor in the department of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Toronto. Kanwar Boparai recently completed her PhD, working with Dr. Zawertailo, and is now a postdoc. For their new study, they and some colleagues recruited young adults age 18-25, and these people fell into three groups: one that had only smoked cigarettes, one that had only ever vaped, and a third that functioned as a control, that had never used either. They ended up with 26 smokers, 27 vapers, and 25 controls. This is the first human study to separate cigarette smokers and vapers into distinct groups. Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-025-02086-3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Guests: Laurie Zawertailo, Kanwar Boparai

Topics covered

• nicotine delivery
• e-cigarettes
• tobacco cigarettes
• brain development
• young adults
• morphometry

Keywords

• nicotine
• e-cigarettes
• tobacco
• brain morphometry
• young adults
• cigarette smokers
• vapers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Center for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto

Books & works: s41386-025-02086-3

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