We posed the question whether the cognitive enhancement caused by nicotine in human subjects is mediated by dopamine (DA) release. This issue was addressed by testing performance in the Wesnes and Warburton vigilance task after s.c. nicotine with or without concomitant oral haloperidol. The subjects were moderate (10-14 cigarettes/day) smokers after overnight deprivation of smoking. After an initial practice session, each subject participated in four further sessions spread over 2 weeks, after: placebo/placebo, placebo/haloperidol (5mg),placebo/nicotine (0.8 mg) or nicotine/haloperidol, double-blind with a balanced ordering of drug combinations. On each occasion, performance was measured on the vigilance task, a finger tapping test, and digit span forward and backward. Nicotine improved detection sensitivity on the vigilance task, and this effect was unchanged by haloperidol; the latter compound reduced forward digit span. Thus, the improved vigilance caused by nicotine does not appear to be mediated by DA systems.
Bakan P. (1960) Effect of meprobamate on auditory vigilance. Percept Motor Skills12:26
2.
Brazell M.P., Mitchell S.N., Joseph M.H., GrayJA ( 1990) Acute administration of nicotine increases the in vivo extra cellular levels of dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and ascorbic acid preferentially in the nucleus accumbens of the rat: comparison with caudate-putamen . Neuropharmacology29: 1177-1185
3.
Dawe S., Gerada C., Russell M A H, GrayJA ( 1995) Nicotine intake in smokers increases following a single dose of haloperidol. Psychopharmacology117: 110-115
4.
Fillenz M. (1990) The noradrenergic neuron. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
5.
Foulds J., McSorley K., Sneddon J., Feyerabend C., Jarvis M.J., Russell M A H (1994) Effect of subcutaneous nicotine injections on EEG alpha frequency in non-smokers: a placebo-controlled pilot study. Psychopharmacology115: 163-166
6.
Gray JA, Joseph M.H., Hemsley D.R., Young A M J, Warburton E.C., Boulenguez P., Grigoryan G.A., Peters S.L., Rawlins J N P, Taib C-T., Yee B.K., Cassaday H., Weiner I., Gol G., Gusak O., Joel D., Shadach E., Shalev U., Tarrasch R., Felden J. (1995) The role of mesolombic dopaminergic and retrohippocampal afferents to the nucleus accumbens in latent inhibition: implications for schizophrenia. Behavioural Brain Research: 71:19-31
7.
GrayJ A., Feldon J., Rawlins J N P, Hemsley D.R., Smith A.D. (1991) The neuropsychology of schizophrenia. Behav Brain Sci14: 1-20
8.
GrayJA, Mitchell S.N., Joseph M.H., Grigoryan G.A., Dawe S., Hodges H. (1994) Neurochemical mechanisms mediating the behavioral and cognitive effects of nicotine. Drug Dev Res31: 3-17
9.
Grigoryan G.A., Hodges H., Mitchell S.N., SindenJ.D., GrayJA ( 1996) 6-OHDA lesions of the nucleus accumbens accentuate memory deficits in animals with lesions to the forebrain cholinergic projection system: effects of nicotine administration on learning and memory in the water maze . Neurobiol Learning Mem65:135-153
10.
Hodges H., Allen Y., Sinden J., Lantos P.L., Gray JA ( 1991a) Effects of cholinergic-rich neural grafts on radial maze performance of rats after excitotoxic lesions of the forebrain cholinergic projection system. II. Cholinergic drugs as probes to investigate lesion-induced deficits and transplant-induced functional recovery. Neuroscience45: 609-623
11.
Hodges H., Allen Y., Sinden J., Mitchell S.N., Arendt T., Lantos P.L., Gray JA ( 1991b) The effects of cholinergic drugs and cholinergic-rich foetal neural transplants on alcohol-induced deficits in radial maze performance in rats. Behav Brain Res43: 7-28
12.
Hodges H., Sinden J., Turner JJ, Netto CA, Sowinski P., Gray JA ( 1992) Nicotine as a tool to characterise the role of the forebrain cholinergic projection system in cognition. In Lippiello P M, Collins A C, Gray J A, Robinson J H (eds), The biology of nicotine: current research issues. Raven Press, New York, pp. 157-182
13.
Imperato A., Mulas A., Di Chiara G. (1986) Nicotine preferentially stimulates dopamine release in the limbic system of freely moving rats. Eur J Pharmac132: 337-338
14.
Jones G M M (1990) The cholinergic hypothesis of dementia: the effect of lecithin and nicotine on human memory and attention in dementia of Alzheimer type. PhD dissertation, London University
15.
Jones G M M, Sahakian B.J., Levy R., Warburton D.M., GrayJA ( 1992) Effects of acute subcutaneous nicotine on attention, information processing and short-term memory in Alzheimer's disease. Psychopharmacology108: 485-494
16.
Joseph M.J., Peters S.L., GrayJ.A. (1993) Nicotine blocks latent inhibition in rats: evidence for a critical role of increased functional activity of dopamine in the mesolimbic system at conditioning rather than pre-exposure. Psychopharmacology110: 187-192
17.
Le Moal M., Simon H. (1991) Mesolimbic dopaminergic network: functional and regulatory roles. Physiol Rev71:155-234
18.
Levin E.D. (1992) Nicotine systems and cognitive function. Psychopharmacology108: 417-431
19.
Levin E.D., Rose J.E. (1991) Interactive effects of D1 and D2 agonist with scopolamine on radial-arm maze performance. Pharmac Biochem Behav38: 243-246
20.
Levin ED, Eisner B. (1994) Nicotine interactions with dopamine agonists: effects on working memory function. Drug Dev Res31: 32-37
21.
McNaughton N., Mason S.T. (1980) The neuropsychology and neuropharmacology of the dorsal ascending noradrenergic bundle—a review. Prog Neurobiol14:157-219
22.
Mitchell S.N., Smith K.M., Joseph M.H., Gray JA ( 1992) Acute and chronic effects of nicotine on catecholamine synthesis and release in the rat central nervous system. In Lippiello PM, Collins AC , Gray JA, Robinson, JH (eds), The biology of nicotine: current research issues. Raven Press, New York, pp. 97-119
23.
Mitchell S.N., Smith K.M., Joseph M.H., Gray J.A. (1993) Increases in tyrosine hydroxylase messenger RNA in the locus coeruleus after a single dose of nicotine are followed by time-dependent increases in enzyme activity and noradrenaline release. Neuroscience56: 989-997
24.
Newhouse P., Sunderland T., Tariot P., Blumhardt C.L., Weingartner H., MellowA, Murphy D.L. (1988) Intravenous nicotine in Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study. Psychopharmacology95:171-175
25.
Newhouse P., Sunderland T., Narang P., Mellow A.M., Fertig J.B., Lawlor B.A., Murphy D.L. (1990) Neuroendocrine, physiologic and behavioral responses following intravenous nicotine in non-smoking healthy volunteers and patients with Alzheimer's disease. Psychoneuroendocrinology15: 471-484
26.
Newhouse P., Potter A., Corwin J., Lenox R. (1992) Acute nicotinic blockade produces cognitive impairment in normal humans. Psychopharmacology108: 480-484
27.
Rowell RP, Carr LA, Garner AC (1987) Stimulation of [3H] dopamine release by nicotine in rat nucleus accumbens. J Neurochem49:1449-1454
28.
Sahakian B., Jones G., Levy R., Gray J., Warburton D. (1989) Effects of nicotine on attention, information processing and short-term memory in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type. Br J Psychiat154: 797-800
29.
Thornton J.C., Dawe S., Lee C., Capstick C., Corr PJ, Cotter P., Frangou S., Gray N.S., Russell M A H,GrayJA ( 1996) Effects of nicotine and amphetamine on latent inhibition in human subjects. Psychopharmacology127:164-173
30.
Turner JJ, Hodges H., Sinden J.D., Gray JA ( 1992) Comparison of radial maze performance of rats after ibotenate and quisqualate lesions of the forebrain cholinergic projection system: effects of pharmacological challenge and changes in training regime. Behav Pharmac3: 359-373
31.
Warburton DM, Wesnes K. (1984) Drugs as research tools in psychology: cholinergic drugs and information processing. Neuropsychobiology11: 121-132
32.
Wesnes K., Warburton D.M. (1978) The effect of cigarette smoking and nicotine tablets on human attention. In Thornton R E (ed.), Smoking behaviour: physiological and psychological influences . Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh , pp.131-147
33.
Wesnes K., Warburton D.M. (1984) Effects of scopolamine and nicotine on human rapid information processing performance. Psychopharmacology82: 147-150
34.
West RJ ( 1990) Nicotine pharmacodynamics: some unresolved issues. In Bock G, Marsh J (eds), The biology of nicotine dependence. Ciba Foundation symposium 152. John Wiley, Chichester , pp. 210-219
35.
West R.J., Jarvis M.J. (1986) Effects of nicotine on finger tapping rate in non-smokers . Pharmac Biochem Behav25: 727-731
36.
Westfall T.C., Mereu G., Vickery L., Perry H., Naes L., and Yoon K-W P (1989) Regulation by nicotine of midbrain dopamine neurons . In Nordberg A, Fuxe K, Holmstedt B (eds), Progress in brain research. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 173-185
37.
Wise R.A., Rompre P.P. (1989) Brain dopamine and reward. Ann Rev Psychol40:191-225
38.
Young A M J, Joseph M.H., Gray J.A. (1993) Latent inhibition of conditioned dopamine release in rat nucleus accumbens. Neuroscience54: 5-9
