title: Nicotine and behavioral markers of risk for schizophrenia: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study.
abstract: We investigated the effect of nicotine on three behavioral markers of risk for schizophrenia: sustained attention (using the Continuous Performance Task (CPT)), antisaccade performance, and smooth pursuit. Smooth pursuit was investigated in two conditions, one in which attention was enhanced (monitoring target changes) and one in which attention was not enhanced (no monitoring). Patients with schizophrenia (n = 15) and controls (n = 14) were given a 14-mg nicotine patch in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design and plasma nicotine concentrations were monitored. Nicotine concentrations were similar in both groups. A Group x Drug interaction (p <.02) on CPT hits indicated that nicotine improved sustained attention in patients but not in controls. Nicotine significantly decreased antisaccade errors (p <.01) in both groups. A Drug x Monitoring condition interaction (p <.01) on pursuit gain indicated that nicotine significantly increased pursuit gain in the no-monitoring condition in patients and controls equally, but did not improve pursuit in the monitoring condition. Thus, improvement in pursuit may have been mediated via an effect on attention rather than by an effect on oculomotor function per se. In patients, the magnitude of improvement in attention on nicotine was correlated with the improvement on eye movement tasks. Thus, nicotine improves performance on both attention and oculomotor markers of risk for schizophrenia, possibly via common mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Lana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dépatie
authors.forename: Gillian A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: O'Driscoll
authors.forename: Anne-Lise V
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Holahan
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Joseph X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Thavundayil
authors.forename: N Ng Ying
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Kin
authors.forename: Samarthji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine