Brain Scan Study of Smokers Reveals Signature of Craving

[Celebration]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=26760

Not all smokers are alike when it comes to cravings, and a new study conducted by researchers at Duke University Medical Center suggests the difference may lie in their brains' sensitivity to drug cues. The researchers found that smokers who report a greater urge to smoke after a period of abstinence also exhibit stronger brain activity after viewing smoking-related images, such as others smoking or a pack of cigarettes.

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"Smokers' responses to drug cues are important in maintaining the smoking habit and also serve as strong triggers to return to smoking for those who have quit," McClernon added. "As we begin to understand the underlying brain processes, we may discover new methods for manipulating those responses to better help smokers quit."

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While scientists have thought that nicotine is the primary agent responsible for cigarette addiction, recent evidence suggests that conditioned responses to sensory cues also play an important role, McClernon said. Brain imaging studies of smokers have found increases in brain activity in response to smoking-related images in areas associated with attention, motivation and reward.

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Smokers who exhibit greater sensitivity to environmental cues might have particular difficulty quitting smoking and may also be particularly prone to relapse, McClernon said. While experts advise that all people attempting to quit avoid situations or objects that remind them of smoking, the new results suggest that such measures may be particularly important for some smokers, he said.

[Warpy]

1. The same thing happens to heroin addicts

who may be experiencing the physical symptoms of withdrawal. Those symptoms are lessened when the addict spots a connection, long before s/he has cooked up the drugs and shot them. The anticipation seems to trigger a release of endorphins, those happy hormones our brain produces, and those reduce the symptoms.

There has also been some highly preliminary research using PET scans showing that nicotine lights up the parts of the brain responsible for addiction like a Christmas tree, thus suggesting that the real gateway drug is TOBACCO.

[Celebration]

2. has anyone studied caffeine?

It may light something up for me, or darken it if I don't have my daily amount.

[Warpy]

3. Caffeine produces dependence but not addiction

I know that seems like a contradiction, but it really isn't.

People who consume caffeine daily and stop suddenly will get a variety of withdrawal symptoms, ranging from fatigue to irritability to a raging headache. There are no cravings, though, and the person who is dependent on caffeine isn't chasing an elusive high the way addicts do.

That's the hallmark of addiction, that AA line that "one is too many and a thousand isn't enough." Heroin addicts call it "chasing the dragon," meaning an elusive high that is always just out of reach.

Dependence will produce physical symptoms on withdrawal, but there is no concurrent craving for either the drug or its effects.

An example would be diabetics and insulin. There is no way we can say they're addicted to insulin, but they certainly are dependent on it.