Why can't some people quit smoking?

Researchers claims to have discovered the reason why some people just can’t quit smoking, and it all have to do with the activities in the brain.

UK DailyMail report: The U.S. scientists found they could predict how effective a reward-based quitting strategy would be in an individual by studying their brain activity.

The researchers observed the brains of nicotine-deprived smokers using MRI scans.

They found those who exhibited the weakest response to rewards were also the least willing to stop smoking, even when offered money to do so.

‘We believe that our findings may help to explain why some smokers find it so difficult to quit smoking,’ said Dr Stephen Wilson, assistant professor of psychology, at Penn State University, in Pennsylvania. 

‘Namely, potential sources of reinforcement for giving up smoking - for example, the prospect of saving money or improving health - may hold less value for some individuals and, accordingly, have less impact on their behaviour.’

The researchers recruited 44 smokers to examine brain reward centre responses to monetary reward in those expecting to smoke and in those who were not, and the subsequent willingness of the smokers to forego a cigarette in an effort to earn more money.

The participants, who were between the ages of 18 and 45, all reported that they smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day for the past 12 months. 

They were instructed to abstain from smoking and from using any products containing nicotine for 12 hours prior to arriving for the experiment.

Each participant spent time in an fMRI scanner while playing a card-guessing game with the potential to win money. 

The participants were informed that they would have to wait approximately two hours, until the experiment was over, to smoke a cigarette. 

Partway through the card-guessing task, half of the participants were informed that there had been a mistake, and they would be allowed to smoke during a 50-minute break that would occur in another 16 minutes.

However, when the time came for the cigarette break, the participant was told that for every five minutes he or she did not smoke, he or she would receive $1 - with the potential to earn up to $10.

Dr Wilson and his colleagues found smokers who could not resist the temptation to smoke also showed weaker responses in their brains’ reward centres when offered monetary rewards while in the fMRI.

‘Our results suggest that it may be possible to identify individuals prospectively by measuring how their brains respond to rewards, an observation that has significant conceptual and clinical implications,’ said Dr Wilson. 

‘For example, particularly at-risk smokers could potentially be identified prior to a quit attempt and be provided with special interventions designed to increase their chances for success.’

Quite interesting, but someone has a different theory.

Mike said:

It's a load of rubbish. The reason why people struggle to quit is not because of the addiction or the failure to see the benefits of stopping, but because they miss the hand to mouth and inhaling/exhaling aspect of smoking. I tried all types of methods to quit smoking, and e-cigs are the only thing which work for me because i get the best of both worlds, the enjoyable aspects of smoking but without the health concerns.

Nice debate if you ask me.

What was your experience like? Do you agree with the study?