The United States Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor College of Medicine), researchers said the addictive ingredient in cigarettes - nicotine (nicotine), "trick" the brain, smoking behavior and the prevailing environmental conditions combined together. The findings are published in the latest issue of the journal "Neuron" (Neuron) on.

why smoking habits of people in the bar or with friends after dinner to smoke a

"our brains usually is conducive to our survival and development of events and the prevailing environmental conditions linked so that we can once again carry out the acts, so that we move toward successful lives. When we do a good thing, the brain will send a reward signal. " Baylor College of Medicine professor of the nervous system, Dr. John A. Dani said, he was one of the authors of this study. "Then, nicotine borrowed this kind of subconscious brain learning process, so we thought that smoking is a positive behavior."

Dani said, and smoking may be linked to environmental conditions has caused us to have a strong suction on a desire. These hinted that it might include alcohol, dinners with friends, or even drive home from the company. In order to understand why this link is so strong, Dani, and Baylor College of Medicine Lecturer in the nervous system, the study's collaborator, Dr. Jianrong Tang intended by recording the rats received nicotine, its brain activity.

experiment, rats were placed in a single room divided into two experimental apparatus, it can be in the random walk in two single rooms. One of the single room, it will receive nicotine, another single room, they can be harmless salt solution. Then, the researchers recorded the rats to stay in each room the length of time and record the mouse brain to generate new memories hippocampus activity.

"test brain activity changes in rat people feel surprise " Dani said, "nicotine to force the number of connections of neurons are used for injection of salt solution 200%. This strong connection is the new memory constitute the foundation. "Thus, compared to only give a single salt solution, the rats spend more time learning to the nicotine in a single room inside.

"We found that only in the brain reward center commonly known as a place to send a signal of dopamine, nicotine will promote neuron synaptic connections. It is critical to generate new memories associated process, even if the is the same as the bad behavior of smoking is no exception. "

Dani said that to understand the resulting memory means would be favorable in the future treatment of memory disorders research measures, such as Alzheimer's disease (Alzheimer's disease), Or, like Parkinson's disease (Parkinson's disease) symptoms like dopamine signal barrier.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disease (National Institute of Neurology Disorders) and the United States Institute of stroke and drug abuse (Stroke and the National Institute of Drug Abuse) support.

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