Behavioural training, such as mindfulness meditation, could help smokers to kick the habit - even those with no willpower - according to a new study.

Mindfulness meditation is practiced sitting cross-legged, with closed eyes and a straight back. Breathing is controlled while attention is placed on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment.

Past research has shown that smokers have less brain activity in areas associated with self-control.

However, a team of researchers at Texas Tech University and University of Oregon set out to investigate the relationship between behavioural training techniques and a smoker's self-control towards quitting smoking.

For the study, they recruited 60 undergraduate students - 27 cigarette smokers and 33 non-smokers - and enrolled them onto an integrative body-mind training program that included meditation and relaxation training techniques.

Half of the participants received mindfulness meditation training, which involved them becoming self-aware of their experience, while the other half received a relaxation technique designed to reduce stress and improve cognition.

Each session lasted 30 minutes and over a 14-day period the participants received a total of five hours of training. At the start and end of each session, their brains were scanned and self-reporting questionnaires were completed. The participants' smoking was also measured using carbon monoxide testing.

It was found that those in the mindfulness meditation group showed a 60 per cent reduction in smoking in the two weeks following the study.

Yi-Yuan Tang, lead researcher of the study, said: 'The students changed their smoking behaviour but were not aware of it. When we showed the data to a participant who said they had smoked 20 cigarettes, this person checked their pocket immediately and was shocked to find ten left.

'We then measured intention to see if it correlated with smoking changes and found there was no correlation. But if you improve the self-control network in the brain and moderate stress-reactivity, then it's possible to reduce smoking.'

The study has been published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

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