Effects of nicotine on attention and inhibitory control in healthy nonsmokers

Nicholas D Wignall, Harriet de Wit, Nicholas D Wignall, Harriet de Wit

Abstract

Nicotine improves cognitive functioning in smokers and psychiatric populations, but its cognitive-enhancing effects in healthy nonsmokers are less well understood. Nicotine appears to enhance certain forms of cognition in nonsmokers, but its specificity to subtypes of cognition is not known. This study sought to replicate and extend previous findings on the effects of nicotine on cognitive performance in healthy nonsmokers. Healthy young adults (N = 40, 50% women) participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, repeated measures experiment examining the effects of 7 mg transdermal nicotine or placebo. Participants completed tests of attention (Attention Network Test), behavioral inhibition (stop signal task, Stroop test), reward responsiveness (signal detection task), and risk-taking behavior (Balloon Analogue Risk Task). Physiological (heart rate, blood pressure) and subjective (Profile of Mood States, Drug Effects Questionnaire) measures were also obtained. Nicotine significantly improved performance only on the Stroop test, but it impaired performance on one aspect of the Attention Network Test, the orienting effect. Nicotine produced its expected effects on physiologic and subjective measures within the intended time course. The findings of this study contribute to a growing literature indicating that nicotine differentially affects specific subtypes of cognitive performance in healthy nonsmokers.

(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean and standard error for heart rate and mean arterial pressure across the session after nicotine (filled symbols) and placebo (open symbols). Times at which nicotine significantly increased heart rate and mean arterial pressure compared to placebo are indicated by asterisks.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean and standard error for subjective effects, feel drug effect and like drug effect, across the session after nicotine and placebo. Times at which nicotine significantly increased drug feeling (“I feel the effects of drug” [not at all to a lot]) and decreased drug liking (“I like the effects of a drug [not at all to a lot]) are indicated with asterisks. It is notable that responses to nicotine were modest and did not approach the maximum ratings of feeling or disliking.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean and standard error for select behavioral outcome variables after nicotine (filled bars) and placebo (open bars). Nicotine significantly decreased ANT orienting effect, a measure of reaction times on directionally-cued conditions. Nicotine also significantly decreased Stroop effect scores, a measure of interference control in the color-word condition. Nicotine also reduced response bias in the signal detection task. RB increased across blocks, but there was no interaction between drug and block.

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