Search Here

Smoking shrivels the brain, according to a new study.

Scientists recently discovered a link between long-term smoking and thinning of the brain's cortex. The cortex is the outer layer of the brain in charge of important cognitive functions such as memory, language and perception. It's normal for the cortex to grow thinner in aging. However, the rate of thinning was significantly higher in smokers. Researchers said the findings are important because thinner brain cortex has been linked to cognitive decline.

However, the study also offers good news. Scientists found that quitting tobacco helps restore thickness in some parts of the cortex.

The latest study involved 244 men and 260 women. Participants' average age was 73. Researchers then examined data collected from current smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers. Participants also underwent MRI scans to provide brain activity data.

"We found that current and ex-smokers had, at age 73, many areas of thinner brain cortex than those that never smoked. Subjects who stopped smoking seem to partially recover their cortical thickness for each year without smoking," study's lead author Dr. Sherif Karama, assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill University, psychiatrist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and an affiliate of the Montreal Neurological Institute, said in a news release.

However, the recovery process seemed to be slow and incomplete. Researchers noted that a heavy ex-smoker who had given up smoking for more than 25 years still had significantly thinner cortex than a non-smoker.

"Smokers should be informed that cigarettes could hasten the thinning of the brain's cortex, which could lead to cognitive deterioration. Cortical thinning seems to persist for many years after someone stops smoking," added Karama.

The findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.