In this talk Professor Paul Aveyard, Professor of Behavioural Medicine at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences will look at how our brains respond to cigarette smoking and the way that those responses drive continued smoking, sometimes against our will. Almost everyone who smokes believes smoking relieves stress, but I will discuss our research which seems to show the opposite is true. Understanding the way these brain processes work can help us understand how we can help people stop smoking