female smoker (Photo : Reuters )
A new study reveals the differences between various smoker brains. Adjusting a brain hardwired for nicotine cravings that seek rewards is the key to quitting smoking.
After decades of anti-smoking ads and campaigns, smoking and nicotine addiction remain problems in modern society. According to various studies, 18 percent of the American adult population smokes, and 35 million people are trying to kick the habit, according to Bustle.
Based on a new study in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, some smokers' brains have more difficulty resisting smoking cravings. This is due to a linking device between the brain's insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC).
The DACC has a critical role in humans' making decisions and seeking rewards. Meanwhile, the insula is responsible for creating cravings.
The bad news is that a smoking addition will be more difficult once the insula and DACC are linked well. This results in the nicotine cravings
The way nicotine spreads throughout the brain affects how addictive the cigarette ingredient is. Tobacco products are only five percent nicotine. Yet within seconds, a nicotine "hit" performs a brain rewiring, then wears off in a few minutes.
Smokers then acquire cigarette cravings due to "reactive cues" such as seeing other smokers light up. This is due to the nicotine creating happy feelings by triggering the brain's "reward center."
Actions such as meditation and mindfulness done on a regular basis seem to enlarge a person's insula, and reduce the cravings for various additive substances.
A fascinating 2014 University of Pennsylvania study showed that bribing oneself can be another effective way for quitting smoking. Gambling $150 of the smokers' money to stop smoking was more effective than receiving a lump sum, according to Nature World Report.
