Cognitive effects of nicotine
by
Rezvani AH, Levin ED.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Duke University Medical Center, Durham,
North Carolina 27710, USA.
Biol Psychiatry 2001 Feb 1;49(3):258-67

ABSTRACT

Nicotine and other nicotinic agonists have been found to improve performance on attention and memory tasks. Clinical studies using nicotine skin patches have demonstrated the efficacy of nicotine in treating cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Experimental animal studies have demonstrated the persistence of nicotine-induced working memory improvement with chronic exposure, in addition to the efficacy of a variety of nicotinic agonists. Mechanistic studies have found that alpha7 and alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptors in the hippocampus are critical for nicotinic involvement in cognitive function. Clinical and experimental animal studies provide mutually supporting information for the development of novel nicotinic therapies for cognitive dysfunction.

Nicotine
Piracetam
Idebenone
Vinpocetine
Vasopressin
Acetylcholine
Desmopressin
Meclofenoxate
New brain cells
Centrophenoxine
The memory switch?
Dumb-drug euphoria
Growing new brain cells
Piracetam and working memory
Transdermal nicotine, memory and health

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