Yesterday we visited le Musée de Fumeur to learn about the history of smoking. The museum began in a store that is in operation today, where we saw the various modes of intake for nicotine and cannabis which are in use in France today. As we continued through the rest of museum, the cultural phenomenon of smoking unfolded, ranging from tools found in tribal villages to smoking paraphernalia from the 1800’s in Paris. Like many of our visits, it may be unclear as to why a group of neuroscience students visited a museum about smoking, but is one of the most popular topics in neuroscience at the moment. For class, we recently reviewed a neuroscience article where researchers tested personality characteristics of rats and whether behavior could predict vulnerability to nicotine consumption.
