Effects of transdermal nicotine on episodic memory in non-smokers with and without schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Nicotinic agonists may improve attention and memory in humans and may ameliorate some cognitive deficits associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.


METHODS
We investigated the effects of a single dose of nicotine on episodic memory performance in 10 adults with schizophrenia and 12 healthy controls. Participants were nonsmokers in order to avoid confounding effects of nicotine withdrawal and reinstatement on memory. At each of two study visits, participants performed a test of episodic memory before and 4 h after application of a 14-mg transdermal nicotine (or identical placebo) patch in counterbalanced order.


RESULTS
Compared with placebo, nicotine treatment was associated with more rapid and accurate recognition of novel items. There was a trend for a treatment by diagnosis interaction, such that the effect of nicotine to reduce false alarms was stronger in the schizophrenia than the control group. There was no effect of nicotine on accuracy or reaction time for identification of previously viewed items.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that nicotine improves novelty detection in non-smokers, an effect that may be more pronounced in non-smokers with schizophrenia. Because memory deficits are associated with functional impairment in schizophrenia and because impaired novelty detection has been linked to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, study of the effects of chronic nicotinic agonist treatment on novelty detection may be warranted.
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Lindsay E
LE
Jubelt
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ruth S
RS
Barr
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Donald C
DC
Goff
Biostatistics Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Tanya
T
Logvinenko
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Anthony P
AP
Weiss
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; MGH Center for Addiction Medicine, 60 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
A Eden
AE
Evins
D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000187:drug effects*
D009538:Nicotine