Nicotine patches improve mood and response speed in a lexical decision task.
The effects of smoking a cigarette or wearing a transdermal nicotine patch on mood and lexical decision-making were tested in eight smokers. Each participant was tested after 4 hours of smoking abstinence, under 4 conditions: placebo (very low nicotine) cigarette, nicotine cigarette, placebo patch, and nicotine patch. Relative to placebo, wearing the nicotine patch reduced Profile of Mood States (POMS) Total Mood Disturbance and Fatigue/Inertia scores, while increasing the speed of some types of lexical decisions. Smoking a nicotine cigarette did not affect reaction times, but unexpectedly decreased the accuracy of Word/ Nonword lexical decisions. Thus, transdermal nicotine may improve mood and facilitate longterm memory search and/or attentional processes in nicotine-deprived smokers.
Gentry
M V
MV
University of Southern Indiana, Evansville 47712-3593, USA.
Hammersley
J J
JJ
Hale
C R
CR
Nuwer
P K
PK
Meliska
C J
CJ
D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects*; D016540:Smoking Cessation
D009538:Nicotine