The effects of smoking have been well documented. Heart disease and emphysema, lung cancer and yellow teeth; the list seems to go on forever. Well, add one more to that list: enhanced memory. A new study conducted at King’s College in London indicates that the addictive and highly toxic chemical nicotine might improve memory and stave off the onset of dementia.

James Jang was down in the dumps. As a student at Stanford Medical School, he had been studying nicotine's effects on veins for a while, but he wasn't getting anywhere.



"He came to me and said his project was a failure," says associate professor John Cooke. "I asked, 'Is the equipment working?'"


"Yes," Jang said. "But the data is a little screwy."