There were significant correlations between regional β2*-nAChR availability and clinical features and assessment scores at baseline, e.g., at intake prior to quitting smoking (Table 5). Specifically, baseline QSU-Intent scores correlated negatively with β2*-nAChR availability at 1 day of abstinence in the thalamus (rho=-0.90, p=0.006) and parietal cortex (rho=-0.88, p=0.008). There were also significant correlations between regional β2*-nAChR availability and assessment scores taken at each abstinent time point (Table 6). Specifically, a positive correlation was observed between cerebellar β2*-nAChR availability and craving on both the QSU-Intent (rho=0.74, p=0.01) and QSU-Relief (rho=0.74, p=0.01) at 4 weeks of abstinence. There were no significant correlations between baseline smoking variables, e.g., FTND, number of years smoked, or number of cigarettes smoked per day with β2*-nAChR availability at any time point (data not shown).
