Stressed? Have A Puff

By Staff

Friday, April 24, 2009, 14:04

Why do people who are in 24/7 job smoke cigarettes like a chimney? Why does a person smokes more when he is tensed? Well, a study, conducted by the researchers at University of California, suggests that nicotine may alter the activity of brain areas that are involved in the inhibition of negative emotions such as anger.

There always have been talks on how smoke reduces the anxiety and stress in a person. Ask a smoker on why he smokes, the obvious answer you will get is, it helps to reduce his stress. So, a handful on researchers got down to study the effects of human who smokes. The research team, led by Jean Gehricke, studied the effect of nicotine patches on the subjects' tendency to retaliate in response to anger provocation.

The procedure he opted didn't involve much of an experiment. The subjects played a computer game and could see a video screen of another player who they believed to be their opponent, although, in fact, they were playing alone. After each round, the victor could give his opponent a burst of unpleasant noise, at a duration and volume set by the winner. In some of the subjects, nicotine was associated with a reduced tendency to retaliate, even after provocation by the 'opponent'. "Participants who showed nicotine-induced changes in anger task performance also showed changes in brain metabolism. Nicotine-induced reductions in length of retaliation were associated with changes in brain metabolism in response to nicotine in brain areas responsible for orienting, planning and processing of emotional stimuli, Gehricke said.

The researchers said that their findings support the idea that people of an angry disposition are more susceptible to nicotine's effects, and are therefore more likely to become addicted to cigarettes. "Novel behavioral treatments that affect the cortical and limbic brain areas, like anger management training, may aid smoking cessation efforts in anger provoking situations that increase withdrawal and tobacco cravings," the authors said.