Tobacco Facts.

Smoking is the main preventable cause of death and illness in the United States, which leads to more than 400,000 deaths annually. Knowing all this, teenagers still continue to smoke. Usually smoking begins in teen years and about 80% of adult smokers by the time they were 15-16. Those teenagers who do not try to light up usually never do.

While many studies have linked smoking to problems in attention and memory in adults, the researches from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) decided to compare brain function in adolescent smokers and non-smokers paying attention on the brain area that exercises “control functions” as for instance decision making, which is still developing in adolescents.

They discovered an unsettling correlation: the higher addiction teens had to nicotine, the less active this brain area was, supposing that smoking can influence brain function. “As the brain area continues to develop during the critical period of adolescence, smoking may influence brain development and affect the activity of the prefrontal cortex,” declared David London, a professor of psychiatry.

In the given study participated 25 smokers and 25 non-smokers between the ages of 15 to 21, who were asked to undergo a test called Stop-Signal Task. The given test was performed while the participants were undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
Before the MRI, researches measured the level of nicotine dependence in the surveyed smoking group. Was calculated how many cigarettes a teenager smokes daily and how soon after waking he or she lights up.

The results of the test were quite interesting, the more a teenager lit up, the lesser was activity in the prefrontal cortex. And what concerns test on Stop-Signal Task, the smoking group and the non-smoking group demonstrated practically the same results.
“It was a surprise for all us that that there was not big difference between smokers and non-smokers stated London, who is also a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology.

Slow development of the prefrontal cortex has been associated with the bad decision-making in teenagers, affected by immature cognitive control during adolescence. “Such an influence can affect the ability of young people to make reasonable decisions related to their well-being, and also includes the ability to stop smoking,” she stated.

The important finding of this survey is that the prefrontal cortex proceeds to develop during the difficult period of adolescence and smoking may affect the brain development. If the prefrontal cortex is badly impacted, a teenager is more likely to start smoking and to continue smoking instead of making the decision in favor of a healthier lifestyle.