Want to quit smoking, bang your brain on the wall.
I chose this article
From the New York Times on line edition for my national post. Apparently brain injury sufferers to a specific region of the brain called the insula "forgot the urge to smoke" said an anonymous man.
I think a challenge in writing this article would be wading through the minutiae of neuroscience. The writer in this story has to be the interpreter, he has to bridge the gap between the scientists and the every day reader. Keeping it simple is the challenge.
For comparison I chose an Associated Press story that appeared at Salon,
This article is much more straightforward than the NY Times article. The facts are parceled in such a way that is short but sweet and ultimately more illuminating. The NY Times article is too long and the relevant information is spread around too much. I think the AP writer does a better job of keeping it simple. For example the NY Times writer commenting on the insula said, "The insula, for years a wallflower of brain anatomy," and the AP writer says , "targeting this little-known brain region called the insula." I know what a wallflower is, but I felt it was a bit too much in terms of word choice. I think the writer was trying to flex his creative muscle a bit.
As for my opinion I liked the AP story, because it offered more information in a concise manner. I thought the NY Times article was too muddled.