Acute nicotine fails to alter event-related potential or behavioral performance indices of auditory distraction in cigarette smokers.

Full Abstract

Behavioral studies have shown that nicotine enhances performance in sustained attention tasks, but they have not shown convincing support for the effects of nicotine on tasks requiring selective attention or attentional control under conditions of distraction. We investigated distractibility in 14 smokers (7 females) with event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and behavioral performance measures extracted from an auditory discrimination task requiring a choice reaction time response to short- and long-duration tones, both with and without embedded deviants. Nicotine gum (4 mg), administered in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, failed to counter deviant-elicited behavioral distraction (i.e., slower reaction times and increased response errors), and it did not influence the distracter-elicited mismatch negativity, the P300a, or the reorienting negativity ERP components reflecting acoustic change detection, involuntary attentional switching, and attentional reorienting, respectively. Results are discussed in relation to a stimulus-filter model of smoking and in relation to future research directions.

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Author information

Author/s: Knott, Verner J (VJ); Scherling, Carole S (CS); Blais, Crystal M (CM); Camarda, Jordan (J); Fisher, Derek J (DJ); Millar, Anne (A); McIntosh, Judy F (JF);

Affiliation: University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. vknott(-atsign-)rohcg.on.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (Nicotine Tob Res), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Apr; vol 8 (issue 2) : pp 263-73

Dates: Created 2006/06/12; Completed 2006/09/14;

PMID: 16766419, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attention - drug effects
Brain - physiology
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Event-Related Potentials, P300 - drug effects
Evoked Potentials, Auditory - drug effects
Female

Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Motor Activity
Nicotine - administration & dosage
Psychomotor Performance - drug effects
Reaction Time - drug effects
Smoking - physiopathology

Associated Chemicals: Nicotine (54-11-5)

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