Nicotine withdrawal weakens brain connections tied

[ArkRescue]

"People who try to quit smoking often say that kicking the habit makes the voice inside telling them to light up even louder, but why people succumb to those cravings so often has never been fully understood. Now, a new brain imaging study in this week's JAMA Psychiatry from scientists in Penn Medicine and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program shows how smokers suffering from nicotine withdrawal may have more trouble shifting from a key brain network -- known as default mode, when people are in a so-called "introspective" or "self-referential" state -- and into a control network, the so-called executive control network, that could help exert more conscious, self-control over cravings and to focus on quitting for good."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140312161704.htm