Smoking And The Brain

Well, I thought my last post was nothing but trash talking about the current science trend. Here is a story that actually contributes health science. According to the article " For Some, Giving Up Smoking Is All In The Brain" from http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/for-some-giving-up-smoking-is-all-in-the-brain/2007/01/26/1169788693454.html, there is a specific part of the brain that controls the urge to smoke. It is well known that different part of the brain controls different part of a person's body. However, sciences have never pin pointed the region that is responsible for the urge to smoke. The article reports that a stroke patient with a history of smoking 40 cigarettes a day "forgot the urge to smoke" when the stroke destroyed the a part of his brain deep within the cerebral cortex called insula. This is a major break through in the battle against one major cause of lung cancer. With this knowledge, researchers can perhaps find a permanent solution for people to quit smoking. Finally, this discovery further uncovers the relationship between psychiatric disease and physical addiction. Additional research in this field will probably solve one of the greatest mysteries of physiology, emergent behavior of humans and animals.