A study published earlier this year by the University of Chicago Medical Center found that nicotine and opiates have similar effects on the brain's reward system. Naturally rewarding experiences such as eating, sex, and exercise cause the brain to release the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine stimulates the pleasure centers in key areas of the brain. Researchers found that although opiates and nicotine are very different substances, the end result as far as dopamine signaling is very much the same.

Daniel McGehee, Associate Professor in Anesthesia & Critical Care at the University of Chicago Medical Center commented on the findings:

"There is a specific part of the nucleus accumbens [a pleasure center] where opiates have been shown to affect behavior, and when we tested nicotine in that area, the effects on dopamine are almost identical."

The study provides support for the physiological nature of addiction, as well as the seriousness of nicotine addiction. If nicotine ultimately affects the brain in the same way as opiates, how can it be less serious (Source: ScienceDaily.com)

Labels: dopamine, nicotine, opiates