People who smoke and drink may be less likely to suffer from depression?

Recently, the authoritative journal eLife in the field of biomedicine published a paper. Professor Feng Jianfeng, Dean of the Institute of Brain-inspired Intelligence Science and Technology of Fudan University, collaborated with researchers from the University of Warwick, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and other researchers to study whether smoking and drinking have an effect on the brain. influential.

The results of the study showed that the brain functional connections of smokers showed an overall weakening trend, mainly involving the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the precuneus.

The brain function connections of people who drink alcohol show an overall increasing trend, mainly involving the medial orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and other brain areas. It shows that a small amount of smoking and drinking will affect the cognitive function of the human brain, but at the same time, it may alleviate depression.

One possible explanation is that smokers can self-administer nicotine to increase the connectivity of brain functions, thereby improving concentration and alertness.

The brain connection of patients with depression is the opposite of the abnormal pattern of smoking and drinking groups. Therefore, it is believed that smokers and drinkers are not susceptible to depression. The team is very interested in this relationship and will do research in this area.