RATIONALE: Nicotine has been shown to enhance some aspects of memory, attention and cognition in normal subjects and in some patient populations such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease groups. OBJECTIVES: Memory disorders are consistently observed in schizophrenic patients, so it is of interest to determine whether nicotine might improve memory performance in these patients. METHODS: Delayed recognition was assessed using yes/no recognition of visuospatial designs. Working memory was assessed in a delayed match-to-sample paradigm using unfamiliar faces. Nicotine (1.0 mg delivered via nasal spray) was administered to schizophrenic patients and normal volunteers prior to testing in the nicotine condition. Results were compared to a baseline condition in which no nicotine was given. RESULTS: On both tasks, normal volunteers performed better overall than schizophrenic patients. Significant improvement following nicotine administration was obtained only on the delayed recognition task and only for the subset of schizophrenic patients who were smokers. This improvement reflected a reduction in false alarm rates in the nicotine condition; hit rates were unaffected by nicotine. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that nicotine enhances delayed recognition memory in schizophrenic patients who smoke, but that similar performance enhancement is not observed for working memory.
RATIONALE: Nicotine has been shown to enhance some aspects of memory, attention and cognition in normal subjects and in some patient populations such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease groups. OBJECTIVES:Memory disorders are consistently observed in schizophrenicpatients, so it is of interest to determine whether nicotine might improve memory performance in these patients. METHODS: Delayed recognition was assessed using yes/no recognition of visuospatial designs. Working memory was assessed in a delayed match-to-sample paradigm using unfamiliar faces. Nicotine (1.0 mg delivered via nasal spray) was administered to schizophrenicpatients and normal volunteers prior to testing in the nicotine condition. Results were compared to a baseline condition in which no nicotine was given. RESULTS: On both tasks, normal volunteers performed better overall than schizophrenicpatients. Significant improvement following nicotine administration was obtained only on the delayed recognition task and only for the subset of schizophrenicpatients who were smokers. This improvement reflected a reduction in false alarm rates in the nicotine condition; hit rates were unaffected by nicotine. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that nicotine enhances delayed recognition memory in schizophrenicpatients who smoke, but that similar performance enhancement is not observed for working memory.
Authors: R Freedman; L E Adler; P Bickford; W Byerley; H Coon; C M Cullum; J M Griffith; J G Harris; S Leonard; C Miller Journal: Harv Rev Psychiatry Date: 1994 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 3.732
Authors: R W Parks; R E Becker; R F Rippey; D G Gilbert; J R Matthews; E Kabatay; C S Young; C Vohs; V Danz; P Keim; G T Collins; S S Zigler; P G Urycki Journal: Neuropsychol Rev Date: 1996-06 Impact factor: 7.444
Authors: L E Adler; A Olincy; M Waldo; J G Harris; J Griffith; K Stevens; K Flach; H Nagamoto; P Bickford; S Leonard; R Freedman Journal: Schizophr Bull Date: 1998 Impact factor: 9.306
Authors: L Elliot Hong; Gunvant K Thaker; Robert P McMahon; Ann Summerfelt; Jill Rachbeisel; Rebecca L Fuller; Ikwunga Wonodi; Robert W Buchanan; Carol Myers; Stephen J Heishman; Jeff Yang; Adrienne Nye Journal: Arch Gen Psychiatry Date: 2011-08-01
Authors: Robert Freedman; Ann Olincy; Robert W Buchanan; Josette G Harris; James M Gold; Lynn Johnson; Diana Allensworth; Alejandrina Guzman-Bonilla; Bettye Clement; M Patricia Ball; Jay Kutnick; Vicki Pender; Laura F Martin; Karen E Stevens; Brandie D Wagner; Gary O Zerbe; Ferenc Soti; William R Kem Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2008-04-01 Impact factor: 18.112