Undoubtedly you've heard your mother or grandmother tell you something along the lines of "Just sleep it off--you'll feel better in the morning." Usually this is in reference to a cold or possibly a stomach bug. But according to an innovative study, this saying could just as well refer to a cigarette addiction. The new study found that sleep conditioning techniques can even aid smokers in kicking the habit for good.
The new study, which was released on November 20, 2014 by the Department of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, involved 76 adult smokers who wanted to quit. During their one night of sleep in a lab, the participants were exposed to the smell of cigarettes in addition to the stench of either rotten eggs or rotten fish. The addition of the odors did not disturb the sleeping patients. Upon waking, each participant was given a journal and asked to keep track of their smoking habits during the following week. On average, many of the participants reported a 37% reduction in their smoking for the next seven days.
Sleep conditioning is the idea that a person's brain can be subconsciously trained to respond to certain stimuli during slumber. In a lot of ways, it is similar to when mothers play music or recordings of foreign languages to their babies in the hopes of boosting their child's development while in utero. Conditions are added while the patient is sleeping, guiding the brain to associate certain words, sounds, smells, or experiences. In this case, the patients associated the smell of cigarettes with the unpleasant sensation of a foul odor. In response, they significantly reduced the amount they smoked during their waking hours afterwards.
Researchers chose this method of conditioning because the brain’s reward system, which is activated during addictive behavior, shares traits with the olfactory system, or sense of smell. When smokers smelled cigarettes, a usually enjoyable addiction-pleasing smell, they were also greeted with a foul odor that the brain didn't like.
This in turn influenced how they acted in response to the smell of cigarettes during the day. Anat Arzi, a PhD student at the Department of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute, commented on the study saying that "Sleep learning can influence later waking behavior.
"We know that behavioral approaches can help treat nicotine addiction, but until now none have been remarkably successful," Arzi said. She added that more studies will need to be done before this method of adverse conditioning treatment can be considered for widespread treatment of nicotine addiction, but the results of the study are quite promising.
It is, however, well-established that sufficient sleep is incredibly beneficial for both your physical and mental health, which is why it's so important to make sure you're sleeping soundly! If you think that you might have a sleep disorder that is affecting your slumber, ask your doctor about having a sleep study, or contact us for more information.
Photo Credit: Fried Dough
