Nicotine's effects on attentional efficiency in alcoholics

Background: Historically, the concomitant use of nicotine among alcoholics has not been methodologically accounted for. Given the observed cognitive enhancing effects of acute nicotine on attentional processes, it is important that the potentially positive effects of nicotine be disentangled from the negative effects of chronic alcohol dependence. The current study was conducted to address this question and to test the hypothesis that alcoholics who are regular smokers are more sensitive to the effects of nicotine on cognition as compared to regular smoking community controls. Methods: A 2 [drug group; alcoholics (n = 28), community controls (n = 27)] X 2 nicotine dose level [low (7 mg dose) vs. high (14 or 21 mg dose)] double-blind design was used to assess the differential effects of nicotine dose on a battery of neurocognitive tests focusing on attentional efficiency. Results: As expected, the alcoholic group performed more poorly than did the control group. However, of greater interest to the current study was the finding that alcoholic participants differentially benefited from nicotine administration, as demonstrated in the differential dose effect. Conclusion: The concomitant use of nicotine may serve to mask or overcome some of the negative effects of chronic alcohol dependence in newly recovering alcoholics. This potential effect has significant implications for treatment development and further understanding of the process of recovery of function in chronic alcoholics.