A new research review has found that a type of non-surgical brain stimulation may help smokers reduce and quit smoking. Nicotine can cause changes in the brain that make quitting difficult, prompting researchers to explore ways to use non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to counteract the abnormal brain activity resulting from nicotine addiction. In this review, researchers analyzed 12 trials of different brain stimulation methods involving a total of 710 nicotine-addicted individuals. Many techniques showed promising results, but high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation to the brain area involved in memory and decision-making was associated with the greatest decrease in the number of cigarettes smoked daily.
According to study author Dr. Cheng-Ta Li from Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, repetitive magnetic stimulation may enhance dopamine release and balance the brain's reward system, helping smokers cope with craving symptoms and quit smoking. Nicotine affects neurotransmitter release in the brain, increasing brain activity and dopamine release, which in turn provides smokers with feelings of pleasure when dopamine levels are high. Long-term nicotine exposure leads the brain to produce more receptors to manage the increased brain activity. When a smoker attempts to quit and nicotine levels drop, decreased activity in the brain's reward system makes it difficult to quit smoking. The study findings were published this week in the medical journal "Addiction," according to the UPI website.
