Smoking cessation: a method to disgust of smoking during sleep

The olfactory conditioning at night would allow smoking cessation, according to a new Israeli scientific study.

t would be possible to condition the brain during sleep to the disgust of smoking, according to results of a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience. He imposed overnight foul odors associated with that of cigarette smoking would lead to reduce tobacco addiction. Indeed, addicted to nicotine would smoke 30% less cigarettes.

In previous study, Dr. Anat Arzi department of neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute, had already announced that the associative conditioning by which the brain is trained to unconsciously link a stimulus to another may well occur during the sleep. To understand if it was possible to condition the brain during the night to stop smoking, Dr. Anat Arzi and the Weizmann Institute of Science researchers conducted a new experiment applying this principle of association. They subjected 66 smokers overnight at odors including that of cigarettes. This exhibition led to a significant reduction in voluntary smoking during the following weeks.

"The group with the best results (with an average decline of tobacco consumption by 30%) consisted of people exposed to odors during phase 2, that of sleep without rapid eye movement (NREM light). Most of the time we forget the contents of our dreams, while the packaging that goes into our subconscious during the phase of "memory consolidation" may persist, "explains the researcher.

"We have not yet invented a way to quit smoking during sleep. This would require a search for a completely different genre. What we have shown is that such conditioning can occur during sleep, and can lead to real behavioral changes. Our sense of smell could be a gateway to our sleeping brain, and could in the future help us change behavior to addiction or dangerous behavior, "concludes the researcher.