The nicotine hit for smokers is usually highlighted as one of the key reasons for why they find it hard to give up the health-destroying habit. However, new research has now suggested it is the power of belief that may have a stronger pull on an individual, rather than the nicotine itself. The research involved asking smokers to smoke a cigarette while undergoing a brain scan, to see which areas of the brain were activated.

A group of the smokers were however told that their cigarette was nicotine-free, even though it was a normal cigarette containing nicotine. The team found that when a person was told it was a nicotine-free cigarette, different areas of the brain were activated, namely less activity in the reward-learning pathways of the brain. The two groups had of course smoked the same cigarette. The scientists suggest the brain’s belief system could induce actual physiological changes, which if used in treatment therapies could help result in better outcomes for addictions such as smoking.