Effects of Nicotine on Brain
A Meta Analysis: Nicotine’s effects on the Neurological Disorders of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attention Hyperactive Activity Disorder, Schizophrenia Abstract Nicotine has been shown to affect the disorders of OCD, ADHD and schizophrenia. A study has not been conducted to determine if previously collected data is significant enough to have nicotine used as a treatment for these disorders. Research was conducted through accessible literature to collect data of tests performed on patients with these disorders. T-tests were done on the data for all three of the disorders to determine if the application of nicotine is a significant treatment plan. The results show that nicotine has statistically significant efficacy for reducing specific symptoms across all three disorders. Most t-tests showed that there were significant improvements between the patient’s preliminary test scores and their post-treatment scores. These results show that nicotine use should be a more common treatment plan for three disorders, since it has proven to be effective, and in some trials has shown to be more effective than the currently used treatments for the disorders. Introduction
Nicotine, a chemical substance derived from the tobacco plant, alters neurological function once consumed by the human body. Nicotine plays a large role in mimicking the neurotransmitter dopamine once inside of the brain and deals with memory, cognition, perception, and a wide variety of primary functions associated with the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex (Livingstone et al., 2009). It provides a state of heightened neural activity due to more excitatory neurotransmitters present within synaptic clefts of neurons. This extra molecular presence within the synaptic gaps can lead to stabilizing and more homeostatic dopamine-like concentrations within the brain that could potentially lead to the alteration of cognitive deficits associated with neurological diseases linked to altered dopamine levels
Nicotine, a chemical substance derived from the tobacco plant, alters neurological function once consumed by the human body. Nicotine plays a large role in mimicking the neurotransmitter dopamine once inside of the brain and deals with memory, cognition, perception, and a wide variety of primary functions associated with the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex (Livingstone et al., 2009). It provides a state of heightened neural activity due to more excitatory neurotransmitters present within synaptic clefts of neurons. This extra molecular presence within the synaptic gaps can lead to stabilizing and more homeostatic dopamine-like concentrations within the brain that could potentially lead to the alteration of cognitive deficits associated with neurological diseases linked to altered dopamine levels
References: Pasquini, M., A. Garavini, and M. Biondi. 2005. Nicotine augmentation for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. A case report. Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry. 29:157-159. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2004.08.011. Salin-Pascual, R., and E. Basanez-Villa. 2003. Changes in compulsion and anxiety symptoms with nicotine transdermal patches in non-smoking obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. Revista De Investigacion Clinica. 55:650-654. George, T., K. Sacco, J. Vessicchio, A. Weinberger, D. Shytle. 2008. Nicotinic Antagonist Augmentation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Refractory Majo Depressive Disorder: A Preliminary Study. Jour. Clin. Psychopharmacology. 28:340-344. Bekkers, E.M., et al. 2005. Acute effects of nicotine on attention and response inhibition. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 82: 539 – 548 Conners, K., 2009 Conners, K., 1996. Nicotine and attention in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 32: 67-73 Levin, E Lorr, M., et al. 2012. Profile of Mood States [Online]. Multi-Health Systems. http://www.mhs.com/product.aspx?gr=cli&prod=poms&id=resources [Apr.29,2012]. McClernon, F.J., Kollins, S.H. 2008. ADHD and smoking – from genes to brain to behavior. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1141: 131-147 Poltavski, D.V., Petros, T Potter, A., Newhouse, P. 2008. Acute nicotine improves cognitive deficits in young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 88: 407–417. Wilens, Timothy E., et al. 1999. A Pilot Controlled Clinical Trial of ABT-418, a Cholinergic Agonist, in the Treatment of Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 156.12: 1931-7. Hahn C. et al. 2012. Effects of smoking history on selective attention in schizophrenics. Neuropharmacology, 62:1897-1902. Jacobson L. K. et al. 2003. Nicotine effects on brain function and functional connectivity in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 55: 850-858. Levin E.D. et al. 1996. Nicotine- haloperidol interactions and cognitive performance in schizophrenics. Neuropsychopharmacology, 15: 429-436. Livingstone P.D. et al. 2009. α7 and non-α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors modulate dopamine release in vitro and in vivo in the rat prefrontal cortex. EJN. 29:539-550. Martin L.F. et al. 2004. Alpha-7 nicotinic receptor agonists: potential new candidates for treatment of schizophrenia. Neuropharmacology, 174:54-64. Martin L.F. et al. 2004. Alpha-7 nicotinic receptor agonists: potential new candidates for treatment of schizophrenia. Neuropharmacology, 174:54-64. Sacco A.H.et al. 2005. Effects of cigarette smoking on spatial working memory and attentional deficits in schizophrenia: involvement of nicotinic receptor mechanisms. Arc Gen Psychiatry. 62: 649- 659. Smith R.C. et al. 2002. Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Nicotine Nasal Spray on Psychiatric Symptoms and Cognition in Schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology, 27:479-497. Smith R.C. et al. 2005. Evidence of Association Between Smoking and α7 Nicotinic Receptor subunit Gene in Schizophrenia Patients. Neuropsychopharmacology. 31:637-643. Stassen H.H. et.al. 2000. Schizophrenia and Smoking: Evidence for a Common Neurological basis?. AJMG. 96:173-177.