Nicotine Deprivation Influences P300 Markers of Cognitive Control

Abstract

Studies suggest that reduced cognitive control due to nicotine withdrawal may have a critical role in promoting tobacco use. The P3 family of event-related brain potential (ERP) components is thought to serve as markers of cognitive control processes. Unfortunately, existing research that examines the effects of nicotine deprivation on P3 amplitude has been marred by small sample sizes and other design limitations. The present study sought to determine the effects of nicotine deprivation on P3b and P3a amplitudes, which index task relevant target detection and orienting responses to novelty, respectively. A secondary aim was to examine self-reported trait cognitive control as a moderator of nicotine deprivation-induced reductions in P3b and P3a amplitudes. In all, 121 nicotine-dependent smokers attended two experimental sessions following 12-h smoking/nicotine deprivation. In a counterbalanced manner, participants smoked nicotine cigarettes during one session and placebo cigarettes during the other session. Findings indicated that nicotine deprivation reduced P3b amplitude (po0.00001) during a three-stimulus oddball task independent of trait cognitive control. In contrast, nicotine deprivation reduced P3a only among participants who scored lower on measures of trait cognitive control. Implications for conceptualizing risk for nicotine dependence, and its treatment, are discussed.

Clinical Significance of Early Smoking Withdrawal Effects and Their Relationships With Nicotine Metabolism: Preliminary Results From a Pilot Study

“…Despite an extensive literature on smoking withdrawal (Ashare, Falcone, & Lerman, 2013;Baker et al, 2012;Bidwell et al, 2013;Etter, Ussher, & Hughes, 2012;Evans et al, 2013;Hendricks & Leventhal, 2013), few studies have evaluated early withdrawal effects-those that emerge during the first minutes and hours after the last cigarette. To the best of our knowledge, only two studies have systematically evaluated the early time course of smoking withdrawal effects (Brown et al, 2013;Hendricks, Ditre, Drobes, & Brandon, 2006).…”

Using Electrophysiological Measures to Assess the Consumer Acceptability of Smokeless Tobacco Products

“…Previous work has shown that the P3b is enhanced following nicotine and tobacco use. 23,24 Although the P3b was not significantly influenced by product type, this may reflect the relatively smaller sample size of the present investigation. Previous work has also generally demonstrated modulation of the N2 in response to nicotine and tobacco use, although the results have been mixed (for a review see: Pritchard et al 22 ).…”

“…This is consistent with literature indicating that the ability of tobacco products to improve executive functioning is driven by nicotine, as compared to placebo. 18,23,42,43 This literature would suggest that the smokeless tobacco product that causes the greatest influence on executive function does so as the result of its nicotine content alone. However, it is also known that factors other than nicotine can influence the response to a product [44][45][46] and not all studies of nicotine have found evidence for nicotine alone influencing executive function.…”

“…In line with this notion, previous research has shown that traditional cigarettes, or nicotine alone, can enhance alpha suppression, 18-21 N2, 22 and P3b amplitude. [22][23][24] EEG and ERPs have previously been used as a way to assess the effect of tobacco or nicotine on attention and brain state arousal. 18,23,[25][26][27][28][29][30] However, to our knowledge, this is the first study employing EEG in conjunction with traditional subjective measures of consumer acceptability in order to compare a variety of smokeless tobacco products.…”

“…[22][23][24] EEG and ERPs have previously been used as a way to assess the effect of tobacco or nicotine on attention and brain state arousal. 18,23,[25][26][27][28][29][30] However, to our knowledge, this is the first study employing EEG in conjunction with traditional subjective measures of consumer acceptability in order to compare a variety of smokeless tobacco products. Given recent interest in using some smokeless tobacco products as possible harm reduction products, 31 the present attempt to provide a more extensive comparison of smokeless tobacco products provides an important addition to the literature.…”