Evaluating Nicotine as a Cognitive Enhancer

Abstract

Nicotine is a bicyclic chemical compound that is derived from tobacco plants. Due to its effect on the brain, nicotine is addictive and has long been used as a popular recreational drug. In numerous studies, nicotine has been shown to improve memory and reaction time performances. Some nicotine skin patch studies have exhibited characteristics of a possible treatment for cognitive impairments (Rezvani and Levin, 2001). Although many studies have shown that nicotine has cognitive-enhancing effects, there is not sufficient research conducted to examine the specific impacts of nicotine on reaction time. The aim of this study is to assess how reaction time differs before and after nicotine use for people who regularly use the drug and to test how the reaction times of non-users compares to those of regular users. This study was conducted on individuals aged 18 to 22. A Brain Gauge device and its associated software was used to collect reaction time data. Each user completed the Hardware Reaction Time test, which required the participant to press a button with their right index finger as soon as they felt the stimulus that was delivered to their right ring finger. It was found that people who did not use nicotine had faster reaction times than those who use nicotine regularly. However, regular nicotine users had slower reaction times before nicotine use as compared to after nicotine use. Although these results improve our understanding of the effects of nicotine use, there were limitations to the study. The experiment was not well-controlled as the environment of each participant was different, and the population tested consisted of mostly people in their early 20s. Further studies should be conducted with more controlled testing conditions and with a more diverse population.