The what? Let’s take something easier – the dorsal striatum, or locus coeruleus. Still gobbledygook? Not to medical specialists.
If you think quitting smoking is difficult, think of it as a chemical reaction to certain stimuli, that’s all. The nucleus accumbens is the name given to part of your brain’s pleasure centre where dopamine is produced. Dopamine creates that feel-good mood – simple as that.
Here’s a story of a no-good nicotine dragon…
He’s hiding in the tobacco. Your cigarette is lit. Fire! nicotine dragon comes alive and hitches on to the tiny particles of tar in the inhaled smoke. Down and around he goes, sucked into your airways, then effortlessly slithers into your bloodstream and zooms to your brain about 7 seconds later. Nicotine dragon gets off at the nucleus accumbens and hails a passing receptor cell and hops aboard, flicks a switch to let out happy little neurotransmitters, particularly dopamines. These molecules rush around for about 30 minutes or so, having a bit of a party and making you feel warm and fuzzy, then they get bored and go back to sleep, leaving you with...