HOW THE URGE TO SMOKE CAN JUST VANISH
Subtitle: A specific brain injury kills the craving, a study shows.
Disabling that area may aid in quitting.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Date: 2007-01-26
Author: Denise Gellene, Times Staff Writer, denise.gellene@latimes.com,
997-2005
URL:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-smoking26jan26,1,2252739.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
ID: 241006
Smokers with injuries in a specific part of their brains kick
their habits instantly ¡Ö without the intense cravings that can
make it so hard to quit, a new study reports today.
The researchers from USC and the University of Iowa linked a
brain area called the insula to the powerful urges that cause
people to continue smoking.
Smokers with damaged insulas were 136 times more likely to have
their addictions erased than smokers with damage in other parts
of their brains, researchers said.
One man who smoked an average of 40 cigarettes a day before a
stroke damaged his insula was surprised to suddenly lose all
cravings for tobacco. He told researchers his body "forgot the
urge to smoke."
"It was like a switch was turned off,"
