Why Quitting Smoking Is So Hard

Smoking causes cancer, emphysema and heart disease. It's no secret that smoking deteriorates one's health, yet kicking the bad habit remains a difficult task. New research reveals how your own memories may make quitting even harder.

Researchers explain why many smokers urge to light up after meals, while drinking alcohol or driving home from work. The brain normally connects environmental cues with the things that support our existence, guiding healthy and successful lives. The brain rewards us when we act towards our well-being.

"However, nicotine commandeers this subconscious process in the brain so we begin to behave as though smoking is a positive action," Dr. John A. Dani, professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and co-author of the study was quoted as saying.

Nicotine, the addictive ingredient in cigarettes, creates stronger memories connecting environmental cues with smoking behavior. The environmental cues that are linked with smoking memories create an urge to smoke. Cues can vary from a long car drive to a social gathering.

The study recorded brain activity in mice exposed to nicotine. The mice were able to roam within two separate rooms. They were given nicotine in one room and a benign saline solution in the other. Researchers found the mice spent more time in the room providing nicotine.

"The brain activity change was just amazing," Dani was quoted as saying. "Compared to injections of saline, nicotine strengthened neuronal connections -- sometimes up to 200 percent."

He explains that this memory study could potentially lead to treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.