Abstract
Introduction In patients with Schizophrenia an association between smoking and improvement in cognitive deficits was found. Patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD) have shown a high prevalence of smoking habit and cognitive deficits but only a few studies have investigated the effect of smoking on their cognitive functions. Objectives To study the effect of nicotine assumption on cognitive function in MDD and BD. Methods 50 inpatients with MDD and 50 with BD (Major Depressive Episode) underwent a neuropsychological test battery (Anna Pesenti test, Attentive Matrices, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, Phonemic/Semantic Fluency tests, Token test) at the beginning of their hospitalization. Smoking habit (current, lifetime) was investigated by specific questionnaires. Factorial ANOVA models were applied, with cognitive test scores as dependent variables and smoking (smoker/non-smoker) and diagnosis (MDD/BD) as factors. Results Smokers showed significantly better performance in verbal memory (p Conclusions Animal models show that nicotine can increase the monoamine levels in brain areas involved in memory and language functions. Our results suggest that the positive effect of smoking on cognitive functions may contribute to increase the smoking habit in patients with Mood Disorders as a self-medication strategy.
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