In Clue to Addiction, Brain Injury Halts Smoking – New York Times
Scientists studying stroke patients are reporting today that an injury to a specific part of the brain, near the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit. People with the injury who stopped smoking found that their bodies, as one man put it, “forgot the urge to smoke.”
The finding, which appears in the journal Science, is based on a small study. But experts say it is likely to alter the course of addiction research, pointing researchers toward new ideas for treatment
Anyone got a hammer? I’m a pack-a-day man…
Considering the initial zeal after the development of the lobotomy, I expect to see a rash of “Insulatomies” for high-profile patients (either famous or infamous).
hmmm I quit smoking cold turkey but I don´t remember getting injured….hm, no wait , doh!
Thas right ladies and gentlemen, there is a procedure to cure u once and for all of smoking. Its not unlike that Jim Carey flick Sunshine of the Spotless.. It involves only one simple procedure, and i am the only person who can do it.
I hope they find the area of the brain responsible for republicanism. The urge to concentrate power and wealth to a selected few at the expense of misery and instability for all.
That cure would be breath-taking – no pun intended!
#4 – Pedro, that finding also is consistent with a project you once mentioned involving research into MRI “hot spots” in the brain associated with various activities, such as religious experiences. I forget why you abandoned that line of inquiry though.
Dallas,
Nice to see someone out there taking the Soviet approach, and proposing to forcibly treat dissidents with psychotropic drugs and/or brain surgery. I have no doubt he/she would be happy to do it.
The genius of America’s Founding Fathers lies largely in the creation of a system that makes it very difficult for people like Dallas to act out their fantasies. Dallas, perhaps you might consider a move to Cuba, where they’d be happy to train you and put your talents to good use on such people. After all, why wait for the refugees to arrive in America and vote Republican? Better to cut them off at the source, no?
I seem to remember a similar study of addiction ‘cures’ for heroin patients done in britain back in the late 70s that reached a similar conclusion.
Meanwhile surgical efforts along these lines do show promise for heroin addicts:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01363.x