THE nicotine in a single cigarette can trigger a long-lasting chemical change
in brain cells, scientists have discovered. If they can confirm that similar
changes occur in living brains, it might lead to new treatments for nicotine
addiction.
Rats exposed to nicotine have raised levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine
in their brains. Dopamine is responsible for feelings of pleasure, and high
levels of the chemical last for hours after exposure to nicotine. Scientists
suspected that this leads to addiction.
Now neurobiologists Daniel McGehee and Hulbert Mansvelder from the University
of Chicago have uncovered how nicotine has this insidious effect. Working…
