A comprehensive review was conducted to establish whether there were any grounds to the claim that nicotine can enhance human psychomotor performance. Among relevant studies, many failed to distinguish between absolute improvements due to the administration of nicotine (usually in the form of cigarettes) and the relief of the effects of nicotine abstinence among the preferred subject pool of tobacco smokers. However, a few investigations have avoided this anomaly by examining the effects of nicotine in minimally‐abstinent smokers or non‐smokers. The results of these studies suggest that nicotine has small, specific, positive effects on the central nervous system which may facilitate human attention, memory and sensori‐motor function.

Ten female subjects (five smokers and five non-smokers) performed a choice reaction time task (CRT), a compensatory tracking task (CTT), a short-term memory task (STM) and were tested for their critical flicker fusion threshold (CFF) at set points over 4 h after the administration of each possible combination of nicotine (2 mg gum or placebo), caffeine (250 mg capsule or placebo) and alcohol (30 g or placebo). Memory and motor function were shown to be facilitated by nicotine or caffeine, and the debilitating effects of alcohol were frequently antagonised by either drug. In spite of the differences in their neuropharmacological actions, combinations of nicotine, caffeine and alcohol may be compared through their effects on common information processing mechanisms involved in psychomotor performance.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of nicotine on human performance. In the first study six smokers, who had been allowed to smoke normally prior to testing, completed a battery of psychometric tests (choice reaction time, memory scanning, tracking and flicker fusion threshold) at set points over 4 h after chewing 0, 2, or 4 mg nicotine polacrilex gum. A second study followed a similar design, but used five non-smoker volunteers who were required to chew only the 0 or 2 mg nicotine gum. Blood nicotine levels following the gum were measured in all subjects. The results indicate that additional nicotine improved both the speed and accuracy of motor activity among the smokers, but did not enhance central cognitive processes. No drug effects were found in the non-smoker study.

ISRCTN14301360 and UMIN000024988.