Why does smoking so often produce dependence? A somewhat different view

Why does smoking so often produce dependence? A somewhat different view.

The usual explanation for why smoking produces dependence focuses on the effects of nicotine on dopamine and other neurobiological explanations. This review offers four somewhat different explanations: (1) nicotine can offer several psychopharmacological benefits at the age when such benefits are especially needed; (2) cigarettes provide for a rapid, frequent, reliable and easy-to-obtain reward...

Why are case-time estimates so often off?

Why does milnacipran produce so few discontinuation syndromes following abrupt withdrawal?

Several selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), especially paroxetine, have been reported to produce a number of post-treatment emergent adverse events following abrupt withdrawal (Coupland et al 1996; Haddad 1997). More recently a SSRI-induced neonatal withdrawal syndrome has been described (Sanz et al 2005) in infants born of mothers treated with SSRI during pregnancy. In both of thes...

Why does carbon dioxide produce analgesia?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been used to euthanatize laboratory animals because of its rapid analgesic and sedative effects. However, the mechanism of these effects is unclear. To investigate the anesthetic effect of CO2, we used isolated spinal cords of neonatal rats as an alternative to living animals. In this preparation, stimulation of the dorsal root mainly evokes two types of reflex potentia...

Our Reasoning is Clearly Fuzzy, so Why Is Crisp Logic So Often Adequate?

Our reasoning is clearly fuzzy, so why is crisp logic so often adequate? We explain this phenomenon by showing that in the presence of noise, an arbitrary continuous (e.g., fuzzy) system can be well described by its discrete analog. However, as the description gets more accurate, the continuous description becomes necessary. 1 Formulation of the Problem Fuzzy logic is needed. Our reasoning is c...