Magnetic Brain Stimulation Removes Craving For Cigarettes
Smoking Kills Challiyil Eswaramangalath Vipin via WikimediaDon't worry, it doesn't hurt! Scientists at Medical University of South Carolina temporarily blunted cigarette cravings among smokers by magnetically stimulating nerve cells in their brains. The procedure, called transcranial magnetic stimulation, is already approved by the FDA to treat depression, though its efficacy is controversial (it's also been prescribed to stop people from lying and treat adult ADHD.) In the experiment, researchers randomly assigned 16 smokers to either a 15-minute session of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (in which coils placed over the forehead send magnetic pulses into the prefrontal cortex), or 15 minutes of sham treatment. The magnetic stimulation isn't painful and doesn't require sedation or anesthesia. The scientists told the volunteers not to smoke for two hours prior to the experiment. Before the treatment, the researchers showed the smokers both neutral images (such as mountain scenes) and images intended to provoke nicotine cravings (such...