Despite the abundance of public health programs and topics discussing the dangers of smoking to human health, 14% of Americans smoke cigarettes and more than 480,000 people in the U.S. die each year due to smoking.
However, recent advances in neuroscience research could make anti-smoking campaigns more compelling. Research conducted at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and published by Cambridge University Press presents a deeper understanding of decision-making, allowing policy makers to determine what strategies are most effective in getting smokers to quit.
A neuroscientist studying brain function using neuroimaging.
Image Source: Monty Rakusen
The study from the University of Colorado found that the medial prefrontal cortex influences what emotions people feel when making decisions and how the brain weighs the advantages and disadvantages of decisions. There is a strong association between the stimulation of the medial prefrontal cortex and smoking behaviors, prompting campaigns to appeal to emotions processed in the medial prefrontal cortex to convince smokers to quit. Effective strategies, including graphic illustrations on labels, such as the visual of a damaged lung, or commercials demonstrating the effects of smoking on family members, would lead individuals to reconsider how harmful smoking can be to their health because of the harm it brings to themselves and their loved ones.
In psychology, the term optimism bias refers to the belief that a negative event is not likely to occur to one personally. If a person is presented with information that is unrealistic to them, they are less likely to take the situation seriously. According to the Colorado study drawing results from fMRI data, the decisions made for specific situations are usually decided at the moment the information is presented to them, not after time taken for personal consideration. Thus, research concludes that in addition to presenting warnings expressing the unforeseeable consequences of smoking, programs should share positive information about smoking, such as signs stating that 50% of smokers can quit. Presenting individuals with the most available information, including the health effects and the statistics on quitting, can affect in the moment decisions about smoking.
In the United States, 1.4 million people each year quit smoking.
Image Source: Daniel Garrido
Research in neuroscience and public health programs should continue to complement each other to create more effective anti-smoking programs by adopting neuroimaging results and new information on brain performance. As researchers continue to understand how neuroscience can benefit anti-smoking policies and campaigns, research remains limited and more information is needed to completely understand decision-making surrounding smoking. Thus, current behavioral experiments that improve smoking cessation programs should complement and expand further research about the brain’s response and role in making decisions about smoking.
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