Brain Regions Responsible For Nicotine Withdrawal Pinpointed by Researchers

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By Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato

Dustin Kennerley tried to quit smoking three times over the course of two years. The constant cravings and intense withdrawal symptoms made it impossible to get through the day without thinking about cigarettes, he said.

"I was very angry all the time, very edgy, very irritable about everything," said Kennerley, a linguistics student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "I lasted about three days and went and bought a pack of cigarettes."

If, like Kennerley, you're having trouble kicking your cigarette habit, your brain might be to blame, according to new research on mice published in the journal Current Biology.

Scientists at the Brudnick Neurophsyciatric Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have pinpointed specific areas in the brain that could be responsible for nicotine withdrawal symptoms like nausea, headaches, irritability and weight gain that make it so difficult to go cold turkey.

About 69 percent of smokers say they want to quit smoking, but nicotine, the drug in tobacco products, may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

"We’re trying to understand what chronic nicotine [use] does for the brain that makes it hard to quit," said Andrew Tapper, PhD, a neuroscientist at UMass and co-author of the new study.

Kennerley is a case in point. "I'd smoke one or two [cigarettes] and then throw them away and be mad at myself," he said. "[Smoking], that's all I could think about. It's such a strong craving."

Why Is It so Tough to Quit?

In an effort to understand nicotine addiction, Dr. Tapper's team gave mice nicotine-laden water for six weeks until their brains, much like human brains, were hooked on the chemical. Then they took the nicotine water away and watched as the mice went through their own version of withdrawals: excessive grooming, scratching, digging and shaking. The researchers looked at the mice brains and found activity within the interpeduncular nucleus, an area deep under the cortex in the middle of the brain.

"We found that when you get an animal dependent on nicotine and you take it away, this little brain region became overactive," said Tapper.

The nicotine in cigarettes is a highly addictive chemical because when you smoke a cigarette, the nicotine travels to your brain and attaches itself to a nicotinic receptor. Those receptors then release a chemical called dopamine, which is also released after other fun things, like having sex or eating cupcakes. Dopamine makes you feel good, and your brain associates those good feelings with smoking.

Quitting is challenging because the brain becomes accustomed to constant doses of nicotine. If you stop smoking, the drug leaves your system, and neurons in the interpeduncular nucleus trigger withdrawal symptoms — irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and weight gain — that might prompt you to smoke again.

"Even though you tell yourself, 'No, no, no,' your brain will find a way to convince you [smoking] is a good idea," said Kennerley, who finally gave up cigarettes in 2009 after many attempts. "It feels like your brain is tricking you. It will convince you against better judgment that [smoking] is what you want."

Smoking Addiction Kills

When Tapper activated neurons in the interpeduncular nucleus region in mice who weren't addicted to nicotine, they, too, started exhibiting withdrawal symptoms. This suggests that there's a strong connection between the this area of the brain and the negative side effects of nicotine detox.

If scientists could figure out how to placate these neurons and get rid of those withdrawal symptoms, more people might give up the habit, they theorize.

"[This research] is important for people who have a very hard time quitting," said John Dani, PhD, a neuroscientist and nicotine addiction expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "I've seen people standing outside in their hospital gowns smoking a cigarette — they just can't quit."

Tobacco use costs the U.S. $97 billion in lost productivity, and contributes to 5 million deaths worldwide every year. Statistics show that smokers die more than 10 years earlier than non-smokers.

"Adverse health consequences of smoking make it the most preventable cause of mortality in the world, and that’s why we’re working on it," Tapper explained.

Tapper's research is still preliminary and was conducted only in mice, but it seems to be a meaningful step forward that could provide targets for stop-smoking drug development, said Dr. Dani.

"This circuitry is working in a way that's helping to perpetuate [smoking]. The brain has been tricked into thinking [smoking] is valuable, and that's how addiction starts," Dani said. "The better we understand how these circuits shape behavior, the more likely we are to be able to control them."

"Trouble Quitting Smoking? Blame Your Brain ^[4] " originally appeared on Everyday Health.

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Mindfulness

Mindfulness training helped participants in a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21723049" target="_hplink">2011 Drug and Alcohol Dependence study</a> to stay off cigarettes.

That study included 88 people who smoked 20 cigarettes daily, on average, who were split up into two groups: One received four weeks of mindfulness training, while the other group went through four weeks of an <a href="http://www.ffsonline.org/" target="_hplink">American Lung Association stop-smoking program</a>.

The researchers found that more of those who went through the mindfulness training smoked fewer cigarettes -- and stayed off them -- than those who went through the other stop-smoking program.

The mindfulness training included <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/minding-the-body/201204/can-mindfulness-help-you-quit-smoking" target="_hplink">realizing when you're facing a craving</a>, accepting it, thinking about what's happening and then taking note of the sensation (whether it's tightness or pressure), Psychology Today reported.

Weight Lifting

Jogging and bicycling aren't the only exercises that could help you kick the smoking habit -- Shape magazine reported that <a href="http://www.shape.com/latest-news-trends/study-says-weight-lifting-can-help-smokers-quit-and-lose-weight" target="_hplink">weightlifting could help</a>, too.

The research, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, showed that doing two hour-long weightlifting sessions for 12 weeks plus undergoing treatment to quit smoking was linked with greater success in quitting smoking, compared with just undergoing the stop-smoking treatment.

Eat Produce

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/10/fruits-vegetables-quit-smoking-smokers-tobacco_n_1581465.html" target="_hplink">Eating lots of fruits and veggies</a> could help smokers maintain a tobacco-free lifestyle, according to research from the University of Buffalo.

The study, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, included 1,000 smokers ages 25 and older. The researchers had the participants answer surveys about their smoking habits and their fruit and vegetable intake. Then, they followed up with them 14 months later and asked them if they used tobacco over the past month.

The researchers found that there was a relationship between the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/10/fruits-vegetables-quit-smoking-smokers-tobacco_n_1581465.html" target="_hplink">amount of fruits and vegetables</a> the study participants ate, and the likelihood that they quit -- and stayed off -- tobacco. In fact, people who ate the most produce in the study were three times more likely to report that they'd been tobacco free in the previous month.

The researchers also found a link between increased produce consumption and taking longer in the day to have the first cigarette, smoking fewer cigarettes, and decreased dependence on nicotine (based on test results).

Acupuncture And Hypnosis

A review of studies suggests there is evidence that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/acupuncture-quit-smoking-hypnosis_n_1497348.html" target="_hplink">acupuncture and hypnosis</a> can work to help quit smoking, Reuters reported.

Researchers, who published their findings in the American Journal of Medicine, said that other options -- like medications and counseling -- should be tried first, but that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/11/hypnosis-quit-smoking_n_1248444.html" target="_hplink">hypnosis</a> and acupuncture could help if those options don't work, or if people don't want to go on medications, according to Reuters.

Text Messages

Who knew your phone could be used to help you quit smoking?

A recent study published in the <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60701-0/abstract" target="_hplink">journal The Lancet</a> showed that smokers who enrolled in a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/05/smoking-text-message_n_888188.html" target="_hplink">program called "txt2stop"</a> -- where they received encouraging text messages to quit smoking -- were twice as likely to kick the habit after six months, compared with smokers who didn't get any encouraging messages.

In the study, conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, one group was able to text words like "lapse" and "crave" to a phone number, and <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20075843-247/want-to-quit-smoking-try-text-message-support/" target="_hplink">received an encouraging text</a> message in return, CNET reported. The other group of people, however, only got one text message every two weeks, and that message just thanked them for being part of the study.