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Huberman Lab
Nicotine’s Effects on the Brain & Body & How to Quit Smoking or Vaping
Sep 19, 2022
01:50:24
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Quick takeaways
- Nicotine activates the mesolimbic reward pathway, increasing dopamine levels and enhancing focus and concentration.
- Nicotine suppresses appetite and increases metabolism, resulting in slight calorie burning.
- Nicotine increases heart rate, blood pressure, and prepares the body for action.
- The combination of nicotine's effects on dopamine, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine contributes to its addictive properties.
- Nicotine enhances cognitive work but does not improve physical performance.
Deep dives
Nicotine's effects on the brain
Nicotine activates the mesolimbic reward pathway, increasing dopamine levels and providing feelings of motivation and pleasure. It also increases acetylcholine, enhancing focus and concentration. Additionally, nicotine stimulates the release of norepinephrine, boosting alertness and energy.
Nicotine's effects on appetite and metabolism
Nicotine suppresses appetite by activating palm-C neurons in the hypothalamus, reducing desire for food and chewing. It also directly affects metabolism, increasing it by about 2-5% and resulting in a slight increase in calorie burning.
Nicotine's effects on the body
When nicotine enters the bloodstream, it increases heart rate, blood pressure, and heart contractability. These effects indicate an increase in sympathetic activity, preparing the body for action.
The addictive nature of nicotine
The combination of nicotine's effects on dopamine, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine contribute to its addictive properties. Nicotine triggers dopamine release, creating feelings of reward and motivation. It also enhances focus and concentration, reinforcing its use. Additionally, nicotine suppresses appetite and boosts metabolism, leading to further reinforcement of its consumption.
Nicotine's Impact on Blood Flow and Penile Girth
Nicotine, when ingested through smoking or vaping, constricts blood vessels and impairs blood flow to the penis and other organs. While acute nicotine ingestion through other means may bypass some negative effects, it still reduces penile girth and blood flow. Nicotine increases alertness, heart rate, and prepares the body for readiness, but it also somewhat relaxes skeletal muscles. This contradictory effect on muscles is due to neural circuits upstream of the muscles and the arrangement of the autonomic nervous system.
The Optimal State for Cognitive Work
Nicotine creates a state of heightened alertness while relaxing the body, making it potentially beneficial for cognitive work. This state of mind and body is ideal for tasks like writing, problem-solving, and focusing on complex mental work. However, nicotine is not effective for enhancing physical performance. It does not improve reaction time or muscle coordination necessary for physical activity.
Negative Health Effects and Cessation Strategies
Smoking, vaping, dipping, and snuffing have numerous negative effects on overall health, including increased risk of cancer, stroke, heart attack, and cognitive decline. Despite these risks, many people struggle to quit due to the powerful reinforcing effects of nicotine. Various strategies are available for smoking cessation, including pharmacologic approaches like bupropion and nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, nasal spray), hypnosis, and behavioral interventions. These methods have shown varying success rates, and a combination of approaches can be effective.
The parallels between cocaine and nicotine delivery routes
The podcast episode discusses the similarities between the delivery routes of crack cocaine and nicotine. Both involve various methods such as snorting, injecting, and vaporizing, which allow the substances to enter the bloodstream quickly. The speed of nicotine entry into the bloodstream closely resembles that of crack cocaine, leading to similarities in their impact on the dopamine system. Cocaine is highly addictive and creates a loop in which it becomes the only trigger for dopamine release. The episode emphasizes the dangers of both cocaine and nicotine, highlighting the progressive narrowing of pleasure-inducing stimuli.
The addictive nature of vaping and the effects of nicotine on dopamine
The podcast explores the addictive nature of vaping, particularly among young people. Vaping delivers nicotine to the bloodstream much faster than cigarette smoking, leading to rapid dopamine release in the mesolimbic reward pathway. The speed of onset and the time course of dopamine release determine the habit-forming and addictive properties of a substance. Vaping creates an expectation of quick and dramatic increases in dopamine, reinforcing the addictive behavior. The episode highlights the challenges of quitting vaping, which is often harder to quit than cigarette smoking. Behavioral interventions like hypnosis and pharmacologic methods like the use of bupropion may be effective in assisting people in quitting nicotine consumption. Understanding the homeostatic process, withdrawal symptoms, and effective strategies for increasing dopamine levels can greatly aid in quitting smoking or vaping.
26.
Cigarette Smoking and Vaping - Increased Rates of Heart Attack, Heart Attack and Cognitive Decline
4min
38.
Homeostasis Is the Tendency for Biological Systems to Try and Reach Equilibrium
4min
In this episode, I explain how nicotine impacts the brain and body, including its potent ability to enhance attention, focus, and alertness, increase blood pressure and metabolism and reduce appetite. I discuss nicotine’s ability to increase the action of neurochemicals, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine and activate sympathetic (alertness-promoting) neural circuits. I also discuss common nicotine delivery methods, such as cigarettes, vaping, dip, and snuff, and how they each create their own unique experience and how they, but not nicotine itself, cause cancer and other adverse health effects. I also explain science-based tools to permanently quit smoking cigarettes or vaping, including peer-reviewed clinical hypnosis tools, antidepressants, and alternative nicotine replacement (patches, lozenges, gums etc.). As nicotine is one of the most widely used substances with billions of users — most of whom report wanting to quit — this episode ought to be of interest to former/current nicotine users, those who want to quit smoking or vaping and/or those interested in learning the biology behind how nicotine impacts the brain and body.
For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman
LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab
Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman
Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Nicotine
(00:03:41) Tool: Brief Daily Meditation & Focus
(00:05:59) The Arrow Model of Focus, Alpha GPC & Garlic Supplements
(00:10:05) Sponsor: LMNT
(00:14:35) Nicotine Effects vs. Methods of Delivery, Acetylcholine
(00:19:55) Where is Nicotine Found? Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors
(00:25:12) Nicotine & Effects on the Brain: Appetite, Dopamine & GABA
(00:29:37) Sponsor: AG1
(00:32:11) Nicotine, Acetylcholine & Attentional “Spotlighting”
(00:37:29) Nicotine, Norepinephrine & Alertness/Energy
(00:41:10) Nicotine & Effects on Appetite & Metabolism
(00:46:47) Nicotine & Effects on Body: Sympathetic Tone
(00:51:29) Nicotine & Cognitive Work vs. Physical Performance
(00:55:08) Nicotine Delivery Methods & Side Effects, Young People & Dependency
(00:58:35) Smoking, Vaping, Dipping & Snuffing: Carcinogens & Endothelial Cells
(01:02:34) Smoking, Vaping, Dipping & Snuffing: Negative Impacts on Lifespan & Health
(01:09:23) How to Quit Smoking, Nicotine Cravings & Withdrawal
(01:13:56) Vaping & Nicotine, Rates of Effect Onset, Dopamine, Addiction & Depression
(01:25:06) Tool: Quitting Smoking & Clinical Hypnosis, Reveri
(01:30:16) Bupropion (Wellbutrin) & Quitting Smoking
(01:36:24) Tool: A Nicotine Replacement Schedule to Quit Smoking, Nicotine Patch/Gum
(01:41:52) Tool: Biological Homeostasis & Nicotine Withdrawal, The “First Week” Strategy
(01:51:39) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Neural Network Newsletter, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
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