We’ve seen many products that claim to be able to help you quit smoking, but the effectiveness is very variable. Now here’s an even more oddball statement that researchers at the University of Oregon and a few other participating institutions are claiming to be able to help you stop puffing.

They said that they’ve found a way to pinpoint the areas of the brain that are most active in controlling the urges to smoke, and they say that information can also be predictive of real-world behaviour and the individuals’ ability to respond to various smoking cessation programs. Yes, they say that having you sms-ing your friends will take your desire to smoke away, as your attention is not there anymore.

One of those such programs tested by the researchers involved sending eight text messages a day to an individual, which they had to reply to in order to document their cravings, mood and cigarette use. That’s similar to other programs that rely on a dedicated device to collect data. The effectiveness of this might not be very strong, but its proven to work, and is cheaper than chewing some nicotine replacement sweats.

SOURCE via Phys Org