You know that nicotine harms your body. You also know that some people get hooked on cigarettes easily and have a very difficult time quitting. Perhaps you've wondered why some can stop smoking "cold turkey" and other former smokers rarely go a day without having to resist the urge to smoke.
A study by Dr. Steven Potkin and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, explains why some people are more likely to become addicted to nicotine or express more of the mood consequences of trying to quit.
In the study, 31 smokers and 55 nonsmokers were given personality tests, then grouped according to hostile (anger, impatience, irritability, and nervousness) or nonhostile (happy relaxed, and curious) personality traits. All hostile and nonhostile smokers and nonsmokers received a low-dose nicotine patch, as well as a placebo. The hostile and nonhostile smokers also received a high-dose nicotine patch that produced blood levels of the chemical comparable to smoking one cigarette.
Who Responded?
Researchers measured participants' brain metabolic activity while performing an aggression task. The brain scans showed no metabolic changes in the brains of nonhostile or low-hostility participants, whether they were smokers or nonsmokers, regardless of the nicotine dose. However, the researchers discovered metabolic responses to the low-dose nicotine patch in the brains of nonsmokers, and dramatic responses to the high-dose patch in the brains of smokers.
These changes occurred in the parts of the brain that control emotion, social response, attention, and language. Easily angered people have increased brain responses to nicotine. The researchers concluded that people prone to anger and aggression might be predisposed to develop an addiction to nicotine compared to those who have happy, relaxed personalities.
If you "fly off the handle" easily, are impatient, irritable, angry, or nervous, it might be even more important that you not experiment with cigarettes or chewing tobacco. Of course, avoiding nicotine is a good idea for everyone – whether hostile or happy. |
