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Objective: Chronic tobacco consumption, classified as tobacco use disorder (TUD), has been associated with a variety of health problems. Investigations of face processing in TUD are hampered by lack of evidence. Here, we evaluated facial detection in TUD and assessed test-retest reliability for a facial detection task. Methods: Participants were instructed to detect the orientation (either left or right) of a face when it was presented with a face/non-face pair on the monitor screen, using Bayesian entropy estimation. Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients were used to test the reliability of the task. The general linear model and Bayesian statistics were then used to evaluate differences between TUD (n=48) and healthy controls (n=34). Results: The reliability of the task was high for the 96 stimuli presentations. Slower reaction times (p o 0.001) and lower discrimination index (p o 0.001) were observed in the TUD group than for healthy controls. Mediation analysis indicated direct effects of smoking duration on reaction time (p o 0.001) and discrimination index (p o 0.001). Conclusions: Overall, we observed high reliability of this task and reduction of facial detection in tobacco use disorder. We conclude our findings are significant for public health initiatives and call for follow-up studies.

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Objective: Patients with schizophrenia have visual processing impairments. The main findings from the literature indicate that these deficits may be related to differences in paradigms, medications, and illness duration. This study is part of a large-scale study investigating visual sensitivity in schizophrenia. Here we aimed to investigate the combined effects of illness duration and antipsychotic use on contrast sensitivity function. Methods: Data were collected from 50 healthy controls and 50 outpatients with schizophrenia (classified according to illness duration and medication type) aged 20-45 years old. The contrast sensitivity function was measured for spatial frequencies ranging from 0.2 to 20 cycles per degree using linear sine-wave gratings. Results: Patients with an illness duration 4 5 years had more pronounced deficits. Differences in the combined effects of illness duration and antipsychotic use were marked in patients on typical antipsychotics who had been ill 4 10 years. No significant differences were found between typical and atypical antipsychotics in patients with an illness duration o 5 years. Conclusion: Visual impairment was related to both long illness duration and medication type. These results should be tested in further studies to investigate pharmacological mechanisms.

Studies reported that tobacco addiction was related to visual impairments, but one unresolved issue is whether the impairments are related to the many compounds existing in the cigarettes or to the effects of nicotine. On the other hand, nicotine gum can be used as replacement therapy or as a neuroprotective agent for some diseases. The main purpose of this controlled trial is to investigate the effects of nicotine gum on vision. The ENIGMA-Vis trial aims to compare two dosages of nicotine gum (2 and 4 mg) and a placebo gum in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 100 participants to be allocated into a single group assignment of repeated measures (two studies; N = 50 for each one). Eligibility criteria are healthy non-smokers not diagnosed with substance abuse and without an acute or chronic medical condition. Intervention will last three sessions for each participant with a window frame of 1 week per session. Study outcomes are (1) short-term effects of nicotine gum on contrast sensitivity; (2) short-term effects of nicotine gum on chromatic contrast discrimination; and (3) whether demographics, body mass index, or serum cotinine predicts response of visual processing. This study addresses an important gap in the effects of nicotine on vision. One of the main takeaways of this study is to understand the effects of nicotine on contrast sensitivity and chromatic contrast discrimination. This information will provide a further understanding of how nicotine interacts with early visual processes and help determine how the different components present during smoking can affect vision.

psicologia.v19n1p192-207. Sistema de avaliação: às cegas por pares (double blind review).