DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

A stroke patient who quit  smoking because his "body forgot the urge to smoke" may hold the key that unlocks the chains of addiction.  As reported in Web MD, that key appears to be a region on the right and left sides of the brain called the insula. The insula is thought to control conscious urges. One study showed that drug addicts who relapse have high-level insula activity during decision-making tasks.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle,  lead author Antoine Bechara, PhD wondered, "(W)hat happens to addictions when there's damage to the insula?" Beginning smokers initially might derive pleasure from tobacco, but longtime smokers who are trying to quit often say it's not the longing for pleasure that keeps the habit going. Instead, a cigarette can seem the only way to satisfy a biological need to feel "normal."  In those cases, Bechara said, "it turns out it's the insula that is the culprit,"

To find out, Dr. Bechara, along with Hanna Damasio of USC and other colleagues, compared people who quit smoking after injury to the insula with those who quit after suffering brain damage that did not include the insula. Not all of the patients had strokes.

Twelve of 13 patients with damage to the insula quit smoking soon after their brain damage, never started smoking again, found it easy to quit, and, after quitting, never again felt the urge to smoke. In other words, they lost their smoking addiction.  Loss of smoking addiction occurred in only four of 19 patients without insula damage.  None of the insula-damaged patients who lost their smoking addiction lost their desire for food or ate less.