Motivation The Brain

Motivation and the brain
The brain is the control center of the body and the complexity of it remains the organ of constant research. Researchers consistently look for the answers about the how and why of an individual’s way of thinking, motivation, and processing of information. Motivation is a form of energy, and it is the driving force behind an individual to accomplish personal goals one has set for his or her self. Motivation is powerful when its use is in a positive mode while receiving messages from the brain to continue forward for achievement. Motivation is the necessary force vital in the ability to refrain from smoking.
The brain and nicotine
Quitting smoking is one of the hardest addictions to overcome because of the many areas
Smoking activity affects regions of the brain involving attention, emotion, memory, and motivation (Smolka et al., 2005). The higher the amount of nicotine introduced into the body the more difficult the addiction is to break requiring a high level of motivation to quit smoking. Motivation begins in the brain and the brain requires fuel to enable motivation. Glucose is the fuel that energizes the brain bringing about motivation at some level for the individual. The brain uses about one quarter of the glucose produced in the body and when the amount of glucose is low the brain like the body has a low activity level. A good example of glucose and the brain is similar to the body needing food. When the body needs food to curb hunger, and provide energy the brain motivates the individual to search for food. The motivation is higher when the glucose is low because the brain will send messages more glucose is in demand to produce a particular activity. The majority of motivation and attention activity are from the control in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. When the dopamine changes the structure or function of the circuits in the prefrontal cortex there is a connection to the change in the activities of motivation, attention, memory, and emotions (Goldstein & Volkow, 2002). The change in function and structure of the brain inhibits smoking, which in turn makes it hard to stop
The motivation to quit smoking is the beginning step to break the addiction. Motivation may need the assistance of medication to ensure the ability to break the addiction because of the psychological and physiological needs of the body. Studies are in process using electroencephalograms, which enable researchers to view the reaction in specific areas of the brain regarding nicotine also while studying the use of medication in assisting motivation to cease smoking (Zinser, Fiore, Davidson, & Baker, 1999). The more exact the study, the better information that will be available to doctors and therapists to provide care for those individuals motivated to stop smoking. Studies have shown that the prefrontal cortex is a major area controlling the activity of motivation and the use of drug induced cues with motivation has the best outcome in smoking cessation (Zinser, Fiore, Davidson, & Baker, 1999). The motivation to quit smoking is the first step, and the next is to provide assistance once the individual tries to stop (Hughes, 2003). The success rate for individuals trying to stop smoking without some form of motivation therapy and medicine has an extremely low rate for success (Hughes, 2003). With the many options available to smokers motivated to quit smoking the likelihood of success is much higher than trying to quit without any assistance. Some options available for smoking cessation are motivational therapy,