title: Cognitive mechanisms of nicotine on visual attention.
abstract: Understanding nicotine's neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms may help explain both its addictive properties and potential therapeutic applications. As such, functional MRI was used to determine the neural substrates of nicotine's effects on a sustained attention (rapid visual information-processing) task. Performance was associated with activation in a fronto-parietal-thalamic network in both smokers and nonsmokers. Along with subtle behavioral deficits, mildly abstinent smokers showed less task-induced brain activation in the parietal cortex and caudate than did nonsmokers. Transdermal nicotine replacement improved task performance in smokers and increased task-induced brain activation in the parietal cortex, thalamus, and caudate, while nicotine induced a generalized increase in occipital cortex activity. These data suggest that nicotine improves attention in smokers by enhancing activation in areas traditionally associated with visual attention, arousal, and motor activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Natalia S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Elliot A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine