title: Effects of bupropion on cognitive performance during initial tobacco abstinence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bupropion may aid tobacco abstinence by quickly relieving symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, perhaps including impaired cognitive performance. We examined whether bupropion would attenuate abstinence-induced cognitive deficits on the first day of a brief quit attempt, when smokers are most likely to relapse.
  
  
  METHODS
  Smokers (N=24) with high quit interest were recruited for within-subjects cross-over test of bupropion vs placebo on ability to abstain during separate short-term practice quit smoking attempts. After introduction to working memory (N-back) and sustained attention (continuous performance task; CPT) tasks during the pre-quit smoking baseline, performance on these tasks was assessed after abstaining overnight (CO<10 ppm) on the first day of each quit attempt, while on bupropion and on placebo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to placebo, bupropion after abstinence improved correct response times for working memory (p=.01 for medication by memory load interaction) and for one measure of sustained attention (numbers, but not letters; p<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bupropion may attenuate some features of impaired cognitive performance due to withdrawal on the first day of a quit attempt. Future studies could examine whether this effect of bupropion contributes to its efficacy for longer-term smoking cessation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address: perkinska@upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.forename: Joshua L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Karelitz
authors.forename: Nancy C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Jao
authors.forename: Ruben C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gur
authors.forename: Caryn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lerman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D016642:Bupropion / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D016642:Bupropion
keywords: Attention; Bupropion; Cognition; Smoking cessation; Tobacco dependence; Working memory