If drinking and smoking seem inextricably linked, perhaps it鈥檚 because in the brain鈥檚 pleasure centre they actually are.
Alcoholics often have a particularly hard time . Traute Flatscher-Bader at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues wondered why this should be. So they did a post-mortem analysis of gene expression in the brains of smokers, alcoholics and those who had done both during their lives.
They found that a group of genes in the nucleus accumbens 鈥� an area involved in creating pleasurable feelings 鈥� were expressed most strongly in their group of alcoholic smokers (Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, ).
Advertisement
These genes play a role in rewiring the neurons in the nucleus accumbens. That means people who both smoke and drink might get a greater reward, making it harder for them to quit, says Flatscher-Bader.
Knowing that the link between drinking and smoking may not be purely social could lead to new ways to treat addiction.
