Smoking addiction is not only a bad habit, but also the result of the work of our brain.
Antoine Bechara, a neuropsychologist at the University of Southern California (USA), discovered that a small island deep in the brain, the insula, is responsible for smoking cravings. Her injury (as a result of a local stroke or surgery) completely erases nicotine addiction, and the body seems to forget about smoking. 70% of nicotine drinkers give up cigarettes after a similar injury. Naturally, the researcher does not propose to injure the brain of a smoker as a therapy, but establishing the role of the insula in the formation of addiction gives doctors a chance to find methods of influencing this area of the brain and adjust the methods of treatment.