Stimulant drugs and vigilance performance: a review

Abstract

The literature on the effects of some stimulant drugs (amphetamine, methylphenidate, caffeine, and nicotine) on vigilance performance is reviewed. Improvement of overall level of performance (both accuracy and speed) after the intake of amphetamine, caffeine, and nicotine has often been reported, and the decrement in performance with time has been shown to be prevented especially with amphetamine and nicotine. Effects on false alarms are negligible. In studies where a test battery was employed, vigilance tasks appeared to be the most sensitive performance tests in detecting the effects of stimulants; however, different vigilance tasks may measure different aspects of mental functions. There is no support for earlier conclusions that improvements are noticed only in fatigued subjects in protracted sessions. Evidence from several studies does not support the hypothesis that improvements are only a recovery of withdrawal-induced impairment. Because positive effects have been obtained with drugs possessing different mechanisms of action, there is as yet no clear support for a noradrenergic, dopaminergic, or cholinergic theory of sustained attention. Simple neurotransmitter theories of attention and information processing may be untenable.

Dose-Related Enhancement of Mood and Cognition in Smokers Administered Nicotine Nasal Spray

“…More importantly, in the nondeprived condition, nicotine produced modest enhancement of attentional and computational performance beyond baseline. This issue of primary enhancement vs withdrawal relief has been central to the debate on the performance effects of nicotine (Heishman et al, 1994;Hughes, 1991) and other psychomotor stimulants (James and Rogers, 2005;Koelega, 1993). In this study, we tested the same smokers after overnight tobacco deprivation and during ad libitum smoking, which allowed an unequivocal determination that nicotine normalized deprivation-induced deficits and enhanced cognitive abilities in the nondeprived condition.…”

Effects of d-amphetamine in human models of information processing and inhibitory control

“…Stimulant drugs are commonly reported to improve performance in humans (e.g., Koelega, 1993;Weiss and Laties, 1962). Studies have shown that stimulants, such as nicotine, caffeine, and amphetamines, can allay fatigue, increase vigilance, speed reaction time, prolong effort, and generally increase work output (for review, see Koelega, 1993).…”

“…Studies have shown that stimulants, such as nicotine, caffeine, and amphetamines, can allay fatigue, increase vigilance, speed reaction time, prolong effort, and generally increase work output (for review, see Koelega, 1993). The stimulant drugs, methylphenidate (Ritalin) and d-amphetamine, are prescribed to treat behavioral and cognitive impairments associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other disorders of self-control (Tannock, 1998).…”

“…However, facilitation is commonly attributed to an enhancement of information processing under the drug (Koelega, 1993;Wesnes et al, 1987). Processing information is a complex cognitive activity that involves attention, working memory, and response selection.…”

An fMRI Study of the Effect of Amphetamine on Brain Activity,

“…Amphetamine has well-documented effects on psychomotor and cognitive function (Koelega 1993), and there is some evidence that its effects on vigilance are more pronounced than its effects on motor performance. Two previous studies have shown that low doses of amphetamine (5 to 10 mg) improve performance of an auditory vigilance task, while leaving a simple motor task (finger tapping) unaffected (Bye et al 1973;Hamilton et al 1983).…”