Monday, September 26, 2011

Quitting Smoking Increases the Memory

Quitting smoking is not only good for your health, but also good for memory. Research conducted by researchers from Northumbria University in England revealed that quitting smoking may restore memory daily to the same levels as those of the nonsmokers.

Academician of the Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research Group at Northumbria University to do a memory test on 27 smokers, 18 people who had quit smoking, and 24 people who had never smoked. They were asked to recall a given task while undergoing a tour of the campus.

The participants were given a list of 15 locations around the campus and must perform one task at each location. For example, when in the library, they should check the phone, or ask the membership rate when in the gym.

Smokers only remember 59 percent duty, people who quit smoking since 74 percent, while non-smokers since 81 percent of a given task.

"Considering there are more than 10 million smokers in the UK and 45 million in the United States, the effect of smoking on cognitive function should be understood," said Tom Heffernan of the Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research Group. "This is the first time a study designed to test whether smoking cessation affects the memory."

In a study to be published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Heffernan said the benefits of quitting smoking for health has long been known. "But this study also shows how to quit smoking has benefits for cognitive function."

Although not yet clear how smoking can impair memory, this research shows that smoking-related damage or atrophy in the brain. Researchers hypothesize that smoking can damage brain areas such as prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, or thalamus. All of the region plays an important role in prospective memory. *** [SCIENCEDAILY | LIVESCIENCE | KORAN TEMPO 3655]

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