The effects of nicotine on cognition are dependent on baseline performance.
Since cholinergic neurotransmission plays a major role in cognition, stimulation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor may be a target for cognitive enhancement. While nicotine improves performance on several cognitive domains, results of individual studies vary. A possible explanation for these findings is that the effect of nicotine administration may be dependent on baseline cognitive function, where subjects with a suboptimal cognitive performance may benefit from nicotine, while subjects who already perform optimally may show a decline in performance after nicotinic stimulation. We conducted a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled crossover trial, examining the effects of placebo, 1, and 2mg of nicotine on cognition in young (n=16, age 18-30 years) and healthy elderly (n=16, age 60-75 years) subjects. We hypothesised that the elderly would benefit more from nicotine compared to young subjects, as normal ageing is associated with decreases in cognitive function. Attention, working memory, visual memory, information-processing speed, psychomotor function, stereotypy, and emotion recognition were assessed. Compared to the young volunteers, the elderly performed significantly worse on psychomotor function and emotion recognition in the placebo condition. Nicotine had no effect in the young volunteers and decreased performance on working memory and visual memory in the elderly. Contrary to our hypothesis, the effect of nicotine was dependent on baseline performance in both the groups, with subjects with lower baseline performance benefiting from nicotine administration, while those with higher baseline performance performed worse after nicotine administration. This suggests that subjects with lower cognitive performance, irrespective of age, may benefit from nicotine.
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; University Psychiatric Hospital Duffel, Stationsstraat 22C, 2570 Duffel, Belgium. Electronic address: peter.niemegeers@uantwerpen.be.
Peter
P
Niemegeers
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; University Psychiatric Hospital Duffel, Stationsstraat 22C, 2570 Duffel, Belgium.
Glenn J H
GJ
Dumont
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
Charel
C
Quisenaerts
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; Psychiatric Hospital Broeders Alexianen, Provinciesteenweg 408, 2530 Boechout, Belgium.
Manuel
M
Morrens
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; University Psychiatric Hospital Duffel, Stationsstraat 22C, 2570 Duffel, Belgium.
Julia
J
Boonzaier
StatUa, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
Erik
E
Fransen
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Clinical, Health, and Neuropsychology, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Pieter de la Court building, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands.
Ellen R A
ER
de Bruijn
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Wouter
W
Hulstijn
Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; University Psychiatric Hospital Duffel, Stationsstraat 22C, 2570 Duffel, Belgium.
Bernard G C
BG
Sabbe
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult
D009538:Nicotine
Cognition; Elderly; Nicotine