Center for Addictive Behaviors News Archive
Cigarettes Make Teens Want to Smoke More CigarettesA new study by Edythe London, professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute, was featured March 3 by the Orange County Register, AOL Health and LA Weekly blogs and KCRW-89.9 FM, and March 4 on KTSM-Ch. 9 (El Paso). Her research found that smoking can lower activity in teens' prefrontal cortex, the brain region that guides decision-making and other important functions. (3 Mar 11) http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/03/teens_smoke_cigarettes_brain.php |
Tobacco smoking impacts teens' brains, UCLA study showsTobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S., with more than 400,000 deaths each year attributable to smoking or its consequences. And yet teens still smoke. Indeed, smoking usually begins in the teen years, and approximately 80 percent of adult smokers became hooked by the time they were 18. Meanwhile, teens who don't take up smoking usually never do. While studies have linked cigarette smoking to deficits in attention and memory in adults, UCLA researchers wanted to compare brain function in adolescent smokers and non-smokers, with a focus on the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that guides "executive functions" like decision-making and that is still developing structurally and functionally in adolescents. They found a disturbing correlation... (2 Mar 11) |
When Heroin Hits HomeEdythe London, professor of psychiatry and molecular and medical pharmacology, was quoted in a Nov. 3 Washington Post article about growing heroin use among young people in a suburban Virginia town. Her comments were cited in a Nov. 4 New York Times blog post about kids who turn to drugs. (3 Nov 09) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/02/AR2009110202941.... |
Do light cigarettes deliver less nicotine to the brain than regular cigarettes?For decades now, cigarette makers have marketed so-called light cigarettes - which contain less nicotine than regular smokes - with the implication that they are less harmful to smokers' health. (26 Sep 08) |
Study Shows Cigarette Additives Could Be Making It Tougher for Smokers to QuitA new UCLA study shows that at least 100 of the 599 documented cigarette additives have pharmacological actions, many of which enhance or maintain the delivery of nicotine and may increase the addi (31 Jul 07) |
