Small effects of smoking on visual spatiotemporal processing

Background: Cigarette smoke is probably the most significant source of exposure to toxic chemicals for humans, involving health-damaging components, such as nicotine, hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde. The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of chronic heavy smoking on color discrimination (CD). Methods: All subjects were free of any neuropsychiatric disorder, identifiable ocular disease and had normal acuity. No abnormalities were detected in the fundoscopic examination and in the optical coherence tomography exam. We assessed color vision for healthy heavy smokers ( n = 15; age range, 20-45 years), deprived smokers ( n = 15, age range 20-45 years) and healthy non-smokers ( n = 15; age range, 20-45 years), using the psychophysical forced-choice method. All groups were matched for gender and education level. In this test, the volunteers had to choose the pseudoisochromatic stimulus containing a test frequency at four directions (e.g., up, down, right and left) in the subtest of Cambridge Colour Test (CCT): Trivector. Results: Performance on CCT differed between groups, and the observed pattern was that smokers had lower discrimination compared to non-smokers. In addition, deprived smokers presented lower discrimination to smokers and non-smokers. Contrary to expectation, the largest differences were observed for medium and long wavelengths. Conclusions: These results suggests that cigarette smoking, chronic exposure to its compounds, and withdrawal from nicotine affect color discrimination. This highlights the importance of understanding the diverse effects of nicotine on attentional bias.

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“…The effect size ( r ) estimation was used from the conversion of z-scores 25 , 26 . Values above .50 are considered as large effect size.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of color discrimination in chronic heavy smokers and healthy subjects

2017

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“…Our third study showed that nicotine dependence increases with age. Also, study one showed that performance on the VBM task decreases with age (see also Kunchulia et al, 2014 ). Hence, the difference of study 1 compared to studies 2 and 3 may also be explained by the larger number of older participants in study 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Does chronic nicotine consumption influence visual backward masking in schizophrenia and schizotypy?

Shaqiri

Willemin

Sierro

et al. 2015

Schizophrenia Research: Cognition

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Nicotine consumption is higher for people within the schizophrenia spectrum compared to controls. This observation supports the self-medication hypothesis, that nicotine relieves symptoms in, for example, schizophrenia patients. We tested whether performance in an endophenotype of schizophrenia (visual backward masking, VBM) is modulated by nicotine consumption in i) smoking and non-smoking schizophrenia patients, their first-degree relatives, and age-matched controls, ii) non-smoking and smoking university students, and iii) non-smoking, early and late onset nicotine smokers. Overall, our results confirmed that VBM deficits are an endophenotype of schizophrenia, i.e., deficits were highest in patients, followed by their relatives, students scoring high in Cognitive Disorganisation, and controls. Moreover, we found i) beneficial effects of chronic nicotine consumption on VBM performance, in particular with increasing age, and ii) little impact of clinical status alone or in interaction with nicotine consumption on VBM performance. Given the younger age of undergraduate students (up to 30 years) versus controls and patients (up to 66 years), we propose that age-dependent VBM deficits emerge when schizotypy effects are targeted in populations of a larger age range, but that nicotine consumption might counteract these deficits (supporting the self-medication hypothesis).

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“…auditory P50) gating are associated with genetic abnormalities of the nicotinic alpha-7 receptor. Links to early visual function are supported by finding of small negative effects of smoking cessation on visual backward masking performance in habitual smokers ( Kunchulia et al, 2014 ), as well as theoretical models.…”

Section: Neurochemical Modelsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Meeting overview: Sensory perception and schizophrenia, Lausanne, Switzerland June 31–July 1, 2014

Javitt¹

2015

Schizophrenia Research: Cognition

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Schizophrenia is increasingly being viewed as a “whole brain” disorder with deficits affecting widespread cortical and subcortical networks. Within this context, studies of visual cortical function may be particularly important both because visual processing deficits directly affect social and occupational function and because these systems are well characterized at the basic science level, permitting informative translational research. This article summarizes a conference on visual processing dysfunction in schizophrenia held in Lausanne, Switzerland from June 30 to July 1, 2014 and introduces this special issue. Speakers focused on multiple aspects of visual dysfunction in schizophrenia using behavioral, neurophysiological and fMRI-based approaches.Four main themes emerged. First was a focus on response disturbances within the early visual system, using paradigms such as sensory EEG and MEG-based responses. Second, behavioral deficits were noted in processing related to local interaction within visual regions, using paradigms such as Vernier acuity or contour integration. These deficits provided potential model systems to understand impaired connectivity within the brain in schizophrenia more generally.Third, several visual measures were found to correlate highly with symptoms and/or neurocognitive processing. Deficits in contour integration, for example, correlated highly with conceptual disorganization, whereas perceptual instability correlated with delusion formation. These findings highlight links between perceptual-level disturbance and clinical manifestation. Finally, the potential involvement of specific neurotransmitter receptors, including N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors and alpha7 nicotinic receptors were discussed as potential etiological mechanisms. Overall, the meeting highlighted the contributions of visual pathway dysfunction to the etiopathogenesis of neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia.

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Small effects of smoking on visual spatiotemporal processing

Cited by 20 publications

References 55 publications

Comparison of color discrimination in chronic heavy smokers and healthy subjects

Comparison of color discrimination in chronic heavy smokers and healthy subjects

Does chronic nicotine consumption influence visual backward masking in schizophrenia and schizotypy?

Meeting overview: Sensory perception and schizophrenia, Lausanne, Switzerland June 31–July 1, 2014

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