Posted by on Dec 17, 2012 in Smoking, The Habit Code | 0 comments

I remember posting about the Basal Ganglia before in this post:

http://www.thehabitcode.com/2006/09/22/its-all-in-the-basal-ganglia/

In fact it was my second post…

Well after my other post today about the Insular Cortex I found another posting about the Basal Ganglia. What intrigues me about this post is the effect of Parkinsons Disease and the fact that many patients find that they cannot ‘start’ an associated group of movements such as walking. We already know that the actual act of walking can be carried out autonomously by the spinal column alone. What is intriguing is the starting of the sequence. maybe it is that that is controlled by the higher brain functions such as the Insular Cortex and Basal Ganglia.

Another thing about the post on the Insular Cortex is the fact that the smokers had no craving or even recolection that they were smokers. The trigger of smoking never actually occured. Although the motor reflex action is probably stored somewhere the actual visual/emotional stimulus did not trigger the urge to smoke.

Read more about Habit Formation in the Basal Ganglia at :

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/habit.html

Or Here:

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro05/web1/mmcgovern.html