The treatment that helped [Galit] Blecher is called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and uses magnetic fields to stimulate regions of the brain involved in addiction. The effect on quit rates in the trial was modest, but comparable to bupropion, which blocks nicotine receptors in the brain. It was enough to convince the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve, in August 2020, the use of repetitive TMS to help people quit smoking. However, the scientists working on this new approach to giving up smoking are not finished yet. With so many variables in how repetitive TMS is delivered, researchers from around the world are now aiming to pool their knowledge and standardize methods to help the field move forwards. Understanding of the neural circuitry that underlies addiction is improving, which is helping to find ways to make the treatment more effective.
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