title: Effect of cue exposure, urge to smoke, and nicotine deprivation on cognitive performance in smokers.
abstract: The primary aim of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that the urge to smoke interferes directly with cognitive performance. Fifty-four smokers were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: (a). ad lib, (b). deprived, or (c). nicotine patch. Participants rated their urge to smoke on continuous visual analogue scales. Cognitive performance was determined by measuring reaction times (RTs) on a Sternberg task. The deprived group reported a higher urge and had longer RTs than the ad lib group when exposed to smoking-related cues. However, the nicotine patch group reported a higher urge in the absence of longer RTs. The results indicated that nicotine deprivation affects cognitive performance and that the urge to smoke only partially mediated RTs.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands. r.havermans@psychology.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: Remco C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Havermans
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Debaere
authors.forename: Fren T Y
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Smulders
authors.forename: Reinout W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Wiers
authors.forename: Anita T M
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine