Boyle07spatialabs.doc
Sexually Dimorphic Effects of Nicotine on Spatial Ability
G.J. Boyle1, D.L. Neumann2, Z.T. Fitzgerald2, & J.J. Furedy3
1 Department of Psychology, Bond University, Australia
2 School of Psychology, Griffith University, Australia
3 Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada
Presented at: 3rd CINP Asia Pacific Regional Meeting
1st CTNP Meeting
Neuro-Psychopharmacology:
Challenging for Better Research & Health
March 12-15, 2007, Bangkok, THAILAND
Objective: Evidence suggests that nicotine administration can influence the functioning of cognitive abilities. Some cognitive abilities, such as visual-spatial ability, show significant sex differences, suggesting that nicotine administration might have sexually dimorphic effects on visual-spatial task performance. Therefore, the effect of an acute administration of nicotine on arousal and visual-spatial ability in healthy non-smoking participants was investigated.
Methods: Healthy adult volunteers received a transdermal nicotine patch or a placebo patch prior to an absorption period in which participants rested. Participants subsequently completed a water level task, a 2-dimensional mental rotation task, and a 3-dimensional mental rotation task while concurrent psychophysiological recordings were taken.
Results: Nicotine administration tended to increase sympathetic arousal (skin conductance level) and cardiovascular arousal (heart rate) in males, but showed a decrease in these indices in females. Evidence of superior performance in males as compared with females was found in reaction time and accuracy measures for the visual-spatial tasks. However, performance reflected the interaction between sex and nicotine. Nicotine slowed reaction times in the mental rotation tasks more extensively in females than males. Nicotine also reduced confidence in performance during the water level task in males, but not females.
Conclusion: The effects of nicotine on visual-spatial ability may reflect the interactive effects of sex and changes in arousal levels induced by nicotine administration. Evidently, the neuro-psychopharmacology of nicotine requires further experimental investigation.
Reference:
Algan O, Furedy JJ, Demirgoren S, Vincent A, Pogun S (1997) Effects of tobacco smoking and gender on interhemispheric cognitive function: performance and confidence measures.Behavioural Pharmacology 8:416-428
Foulds J, Stapleton J, Swettenham J, Bell N, McSorely K, Russell MAH (1996) Cognitive performance effects of subcutaneous nicotine in smokers and never-smokers. Psychopharmacology 127:31-38
Levin ED, McClernon JF, Rezvani AH (2006) Nicotinic effects on cognitive function: behavioral characterization, pharmacological specification, and anatomic localization.Psychopharmacology 184:523-539
Keywords: Nicotine, visual-spatial ability, arousal, heart rate, skin conductance