Scientists noticed that folks with stroke-- who sustained injury to the "insula" [or insular cortex] just under the frontal lobes near the ear-- lose their desire to smoke cigarettes [assuming they were smokers in the first place] and just don't do it anymore. To the researchers' credit, they aren't suggesting that smokers go out and get their insulas damaged.
To further explain: The insula, a region deep within the brain that is a little bigger than a toonie, is believed to translate physical signals from the body into emotional feelings such as anxiety, hunger or a craving, said co-principal investigator Dr. Antoine Bechara of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. [end of quote from http://www.canada.com/ ]
Some scientists want to try transcranial magnetic stimulation or some form of biofeedback on the insular cortexs of non-damaged smokers. Others want to develop pharmaceutical drugs to target the area in an effort to reduce cravings in addicts. Researchers are warning that because the study was performed on 69 patients, the results cannot be extrapolated to larger groups of addicts who are addicted to other stuff.
Unfortunately, folks with stroke with the same injury to the "insula" don't quit overeating. Apparently, smoking is considered to be learned pleasure and overeating isn't. [I don't know why that would be-- something to do with eating itself being considered to be necessary for survival.] Rats. I thought they might have been on to something there.
sapphoq healing t.b.i. [and a.b.i.]
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