Addiction Subtraction: Brain damage curbs cigarette urge

Scientists have identified an area of the brain where damage seems to quickly halt a person’s desire to smoke. The region could form a target for novel therapies to help people quit smoking, the researchers say.

Led by neuroscientist Antoine Bechara of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the team homed in on this brain area after learning about an unusual stroke patient whom they identify only as N.