Nicotine and Cognitive Efficiency in Alcoholics and Illicit Stimulant Abusers: Implications of Smoking Cessation for Substance Users in Treatment

Abstract

Cigarette smoking is prevalent among alcoholics and illicit substance abusers. However, the potentially confounding effect of nicotine on studies of cognition in detoxified substance users has rarely been addressed. In the current study of 87 participants, behavioral and electrophysiological indices of cognitive efficiency were measured in tobacco smokers from four groups: alcoholics, illicit stimulant abusers, concurrent abusers, and control subjects. Data were collected from 2001 to 2003. We hypothesized that acute nicotine administration would modify cognitive deficits in alcoholics and illicit stimulant abusing groups. An adaptation of the Rapid Visual Information Processing task was administered after stabilization of nicotine levels via a high- or low-dose transdermal nicotine patch. Across groups, increased nicotine dose was associated with decreased reaction time (p =. 03). A group × nicotine dose interaction trend was noted in which increased nicotine was associated with increased correct responding within the alcoholic group (p =. 02). No significant differences in electrophysiology were observed. These results suggest that nicotine may modify cognitive efficiency in alcoholics and illicit stimulant abusers, a concept with relevance to both the design of experimental work and the treatment of alcohol and illicit stimulant dependence. Further work is needed to determine whether this effect predominantly reflects facilitation of cognition function or alleviation of nicotine withdrawal.

Keywords:

• alcohol
• cocaine
• cognitive efficiency
• event-related potential
• methamphetamine
• nicotine
• Rapid Visual Information Processing task

Notes

¹ The journal's style utilizes the category substance abuse as a diagnostic category. Substances are used or misused; living organisms are and can be abused. Editor's note.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Natalie A. Ceballos

Natalie A. Ceballos, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Duluth, Minnesota. The data described in this article were collected as part of her dissertation project, which was supported by an independent NIH/F31 award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. After her graduate experience in the laboratory of Dr. Sara Jo Nixon at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, she received further training as a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIH/T32-supported postdoctoral fellow working in the laboratory of Dr. Lance Bauer at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Dr. Ceballos' research examines neurophysiological and behavioral indices of cognitive function in substance abusing/dependent populations, with a focus on the contributions of comorbid medical and psychiatric diagnoses to cognitive deficits associated with substance use. She is a member of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the Society for Neuroscience.

Rick Tivis

Rick Tivis, M.P.H., is the general partner and biostatistician for Statistically Speaking, LLP, a statistical and research design consulting company based in Boise, Idaho. He continues the long working relationship with Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D., which began at the University of Oklahoma. They currently are collaborating on a variety of projects researching areas of substance use and abuse at Dr. Nixon's location at the University of Kentucky. In cooperation with Dr. Nixon, Mr. Tivis has continued to work with Natalie Ceballos, Ph.D. The publication efforts began in Oklahoma and have continued while Dr. Ceballos completed her work at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center. Other collaborators include Laura Tivis, Idaho State University, whose current work includes the study of the effects of moderate drinking in older women and serving as a consultant to the Tri-Ethnic Center at Colorado State University. He is a member of the Research Society on Alcoholism, the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and the American Statistical Society.

Andrea Lawton-Craddock

Andrea Lawton-Craddock, Ph.D., completed her doctoral training at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center under the supervision of Dr. Sara Jo Nixon. Upon completion of her graduate studies, she did a postdoctoral fellowship specializing in sleep disorders at the Lynn Health Science Institute in Oklahoma City under the guidance of Dr. William Orr. Dr. Lawton-Craddock is interested in the issue of resiliency and risk factors that may determine differential outcomes in substance abuse populations in terms of sustained abstinence versus relapse. Thus, the research she has been involved in examines different dimensions of addictive behavior and rehabilitative approaches that may indirectly prevent relapse. In addition, she has also done research on various disorders concerning sleep and how bodily systems interact with and contribute to the development of sleep disorders, specifically the gastrointestinal system.

Sara Jo Nixond

Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Neurocognitive Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, is a cognitive psychologist, behavioral neuroscientist, academician, researcher, administrator, and editor (Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage and Neuropsychology for Clinical Practice: Etiology, Assessment and Treatment of Common Neurological Disorders). She is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and is a conference organizer. She is a member of the editorial board of Substance Use and Misuse and a faculty member of the Middle Eastern Summer Institute on Drug Use. Areas of interest include neurocognitive effects of substance misuse, gender differences, and nonreservation American Indians. For almost two decades, she has worked in the area of long-term consequences of substance abuse and dependence. Much of this work focuses on the issues of specific populations, including women, ethnic minorities, and the aging. In addition to her research program, Dr. Nixon serves on a number of national advisory and review committees related to substance use.