title: Modulation of auditory deviance detection by acute nicotine is baseline and deviant dependent in healthy nonsmokers: a mismatch negativity study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cognitive enhancement resulting from nicotinic acetylcholine receptor stimulation may be evidenced by increased efficiency of the auditory-frontal cortex network of auditory discrimination, which is impaired in schizophrenia, a cognitive disorder associated with excessive tobacco use. Investigating automatic (preattentive) detection of acoustic change with the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain event-related potential in response to nicotine in individuals with varying baseline levels of auditory discrimination may provide useful insight into the cholinergic regulation of this neural network and its potential amelioration with novel nicotinic agents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty healthy, non-smoking male volunteers were presented with an 'optimal' multi-feature MMN paradigm in a randomized, placebo controlled double-blind design with 6 mg of nicotine gum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants with low, medium, and high baseline amplitudes responded differently to nicotine (vs. placebo), and nicotine response was feature specific. Whereas MMN in individuals with high amplitudes was diminished by nicotine, MMN increased in those with low amplitudes. Nicotine effects were not shown in medium amplitude participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide preliminary support for the role of nicotinic neurotransmission in sensory memory processing of auditory change and suggest that nicotinic receptor modulation can both enhance and diminish change detection, depending on baseline MMN and its eliciting stimulus feature.
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Neuroscience Program, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Verner
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Knott
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Impey
authors.forename: Tristan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Philippe
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Joelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Choueiry
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de la Salle
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dort
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D009538:Nicotine
keywords: auditory sensory memory; event-related potential; mismatch negativity; nicotine; nicotinic acetylcholine receptors; schizophrenia