BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- One of the causes of
strokes is smoking, and now researchers have found stroke victims whose brains
were damaged in the part of the brain called the insula have a much easier time
quitting.
Antoine Bechara and Nasir H. Naqvi, neuroscientists
at the University of Iowa medical school, compared 19 smokers whose strokes had
destroyed a part of the brain called the insula with 50 smokers whose strokes
damaged other brain regions. Previous research had revealed the insula to be
involved in anticipating and responding emotionally to physical sensations.
The researchers discovered people who had
strokes affecting the insula were not significantly more likely to quit than
those who had strokes elsewhere in the brain, but it was much easier for those
who wanted to quit.
Bechara and Naqvi found that 12 of the 13
insula-damaged patients who stopped smoking said they had no trouble doing so.
One told them that "my body forgot the urge to smoke." By comparison, only four
of the 19 patients without insula damage who quit smoking did so without
cravings or relapses.
The scientists think destruction of the insula
may take away the pleasant anticipation of the cigarette and the relief from
withdrawal symptoms that comes with each inhale.
Missing from the report was mention of other effects
of insula damage. The study appeared last week in the journal Science.
(Agencies)
