Imaging smoking-induced dopamine release utilizing PET imaging and nicotine patches

You are invited to take part in a research study designed to look at dopamine activation while smoking a cigarette. Men and women experience smoking differently and some medications for smoking cessation work better in men than in women. We will use PET imaging to identify differences in brain activation between men and women while they are smoking a cigarette (in the PET scanner.) After agreeing to participate in this research, you may be asked to undergo a two-week treatment (of nicotine patches), and up to two PET scans and one MRI scan.