Can the brain undo what smoking built?
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In one Yale study, 19 people who stopped smoking and 20 non-smokers had brain scans. One week after stopping, the smokers' striatum carried 22% more nicotine receptors than the non-smokers'. At 4 weeks it was 14%, and by 6 to 12 weeks it was 2%, no longer different from the non-smokers.
That's neuroplasticity: the brain changing with what we repeat.
Sources
Cosgrove KP, Batis J, Bois F, et al. β2-Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor availability during acute and prolonged abstinence from tobacco smoking. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009;66(6):666-676. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.41
What the study says
- “Tobacco smokers participated in up to 4 iodide 123-labeled 5-iodo-A-85380 ([(123)I]5-IA) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans during abstinence at 1 day (n = 7) and 1 (n = 17), 2 (n = 7), 4 (n = 11), and 6 to 12 (n = 6) weeks.”
- “Tobacco smokers (n = 19) and an age-matched nonsmoker comparison group (n = 20).”
- “Compared with nonsmokers, beta(2)*-nAChR availability in the striatum, cortex, and cerebellum of smokers was not different at 1 day of abstinence, was significantly higher at 1 week of abstinence, and was not different at 4 or at 6 to 12 weeks of abstinence.”
- “These data suggest that higher beta(2)*-nAChR availability persists up to 1 month of abstinence and normalizes to nonsmoker levels by 6 to 12 weeks of abstinence from tobacco smoking.”
- “In addition, cerebellar beta(2)*-nAChR availability at 4 weeks of abstinence was positively correlated with craving on the day of the SPECT scan.”
Where it falls short
A small study: not everyone was scanned at every point (6 people at 6 to 12 weeks), and these were cigarette smokers. Vaping wasn't tested.
Unaddicted keeps every day you’ve earned, even after a slip.