NC Healthcare Coverage Blog

A recent study on smokers’ brains found that nicotine accumulates slowly in smokers’ brains instead of rising after each puff.

In the March 8 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Jed Rose of Duke University reported that nicotine accumulation in the brain was gradual over a time period of several minutes.

In the past, scientists speculated that there was a surge of nicotine in the brain about seven seconds following each puff, but until recently, there was hardly any evaluations made. Rose admitted that they were astonished to discover that the rate of uptake was in strong contrast to what one usually hears. He directs the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, which is a part of the university’s School of Medicine.

Brain scans were done by Rose to calculate the nicotine levels in 13 regular smokers and 10 people who only smoke once in a while. The researchers found that the highest brain levels of nicotine were achieved within 3 to 5 minutes and built up more gradually in addicted smokers than in casual ones.

Rose implied that “this slower rate resulted from nicotine staying longer in the lungs of dependent smokers, which may result of the chronic effects of smoke on the lungs.” He says that because of this discovery, researchers could be more capable to come up with better ways for smokers to get what they want from cigarettes, but in a non-addictive way.