title: Effects of chronic nicotine and methylphenidate in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: Acute nicotine treatment has been found to reduce symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults (E. D. Levin, C. K. Conners, et al., 1996). In this study, chronic nicotine effects were compared with placebo and methylphenidate. Acute and chronic nicotine treatment significantly attenuated the rise in hit reaction time standard error over session blocks on the Conners Continuous Performance Test (C. K. Conners et al., 1996). Acute nicotine significantly reduced severity of clinical symptoms on the Clinical Global Impressions scale (National Institute of Mental Health, 1985). Nicotine caused a significant decrease in self-report of depressive mood as measured by the Profile of Mood States test (D. M. McNair, M. Lorr, & L. F. Droppleman, 1981). This small study (40 participants) provided evidence that nicotine treatment can reduce severity of attentional deficit symptoms and produce improvement on an objective computerized attention task.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. edlevin@duke.edu
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Conners
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Canu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: March
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D008774:Methylphenidate; D009538:Nicotine