title: Neural expression of nicotine's antidepressant properties during tryptophan depletion: an EEG study in healthy volunteers at risk for depression.
abstract: Nicotine amelioration of serotonergically mediated mood dysregulation may contribute to the comorbidity between cigarette smoking and depression, a disorder which is associated with aberrant activation and hemispheric asymmetry in frontal and posterior cortical regions. This randomized, double-blind study in 20 healthy volunteers with a positive family history of depression examined the effects of transdermal nicotine on mood and EEG changes accompanying transient reductions in serotonin induced by acute tryptophan depletion (ATD). Increased self-ratings of depressed mood and elevation in left frontal high alpha power (decreased activation) were evidenced with ATD (vs. balanced mixture) in participants treated with the placebo but not the nicotine treated group. Nicotine alone increased vigor and posterior high alpha bilaterally, and during ATD it prevented the reduction in left frontal high alpha that was evident in the placebo patch group. These findings indicate that in depression prone individuals, nicotine acts to stabilize the mood lowering and associated frontal functional asymmetry elicited by an acute decrease in brain serotonin.
authors: University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Verner.Knott@theroyal.ca
authors: Verner
authors: V
authors: Knott
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Thompson
authors: Dhrasti
authors: D
authors: Shah
authors: Vadim
authors: V
authors: Ilivitsky
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D000513:Alpha Rhythm / Q000187:drug effects*; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014364:Tryptophan
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D009538:Nicotine; D014364:Tryptophan