- Why Schizophrenics Smoke – ScienceNOW – The researchers speculate that high levels of nicotine switch off DNMT1, which is present in large amounts in the schizophrenic brain. Patients with the disorder may crave cigarettes because they are trying to tamp these DNAMT1 levels and get their GABA flowing, the team concludes. "The goal now is to study what else besides GABA is affected by the increase in DNMT1," says Guidotti.
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