What happens to the brain when you smoke at a young age?

ByWipanan Choncharoen

With the reduction of the age at which voting rights can be obtained,A proposal to lower the age at which smoking and drinking is possible and make it over 18 years oldWas submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party Special Committee, but there are a number of opinions opposed to this. There were voices saying "There is a possibility of health damage and it is not medically acceptable" in opposition opinion, but as advising this, adolescent smoking has a greater influence on the brain than adults Research results have been announced that have an adverse effect on your life.

Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Nicotine Exposure during Adolescence for Prefrontal Cortex Neuronal Network Function
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543069/


It refers to the period of 10 to 19 years oldAdolescence, The maturation of the brain is not completed. Particularly concerning execution functions and cognitive functionsPrefrontal cortexIs an area that continues to grow to the very end in the brain, and it is in the growth stage in adolescence.


According to a study on the influence of adolescent smoking announced by the Free University of Amsterdam, 70% of adolescent boys and girls have been found to have smoking experience, but when sucking cigarettes in adolescence, In the short term due to the influence of nicotine you will suffer from attention deficits due to a decline in attention and will suffer cognitive dysfunction such as mental illness and Alzheimer's disease in subsequent life due to the influence of nicotine on the prefrontal cortex in the long term I found that the probability is high.

Experiments using rats have confirmed structural changes in the synapse associated with cognitive function of the prefrontal cortex due to exposure to nicotine in adolescence. It is also known that when nicotine is ingested for the first time in adolescents or adolescents, it is more prone to poisoning in smaller amounts than in adults. The tendency to smoke among these young people is that the adverse effect becomes bigger as the number of years of smoking becomes longer.

ByLaura Smith