After a patient who had had a stroke that damaged his insula readily and abruptly quit smoking, researchers at the University of Iowa looked at a number of other stroke victims and found that those with insular damage often quit smoking effortlessly and suddenly. (Forbes)

The emerging neurobiology of addictions (both behavioral and substance) emphasizes a two component system, one of which controls cravings and the other the satisfaction or reward associated with the addictive behavior. Separate and complementary interventions target these two components; for example, the concurrent use of the medications acamprosate and naltrexone to assist relapse prevention in recovering severely alcohol-dependent patients. The insula seems to be instrumental to the craving component.

Neuroscientists have long relished studying patients with circumscribed lesions in specific brain areas, to see which functions those areas subsume. Far more precise knowledge can be derived than the newer brain imaging techniques to study regional activation during certain mental tasks.