The urge to smoke is controlled by an area of the brain called the insula, according to researchers from the Universities of Southern California (USC) and Iowa, who released their unprecedented findings today in the journal Science. Smokers with damaged insulas were 136 times more likely to have their addictions erased than smokers with damage in other parts of the brain, the study said. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the study said that, though intentionally damaging the insula would be too risky, it might be possible to develop drugs or medical devices that could temporarily disable the region's circuitry, relieving smokers of the urge long enough for them to quit. The insula, about the size of an apricot, is believed to integrate emotions with information about certain bodily functions, such as pulse rate or breathing, the newspaper reported. The information is processed instantaneously.
