The effects of nicotine on intrusive memories in nonsmokers.

Abstract

Correlational research suggests that smoking increases risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though such research by nature cannot rule out third variable explanations for this relationship. The present study used an analogue trauma film design to experimentally test the effects of nicotine on the occurrence of intrusive memories. Fifty-four healthy nonsmokers were randomly assigned to ingest either a nicotine or placebo lozenge before viewing a film depicting motor vehicle accidents. Participants recorded intrusive memories immediately after the film and for a week via diary. Participants in the nicotine condition reported significantly more intrusive memories immediately after watching the film, yet no group differences emerged on intrusions or intrusion-related distress reported during the following week. Among participants low in dispositional rumination, those who had ingested a nicotine lozenge reported more intrusions in the subsequent week than those in the placebo condition. These findings provide novel experimental evidence for the role of nicotine in increasing risk of PTSD and suggest that nicotine may contribute to trauma-related rumination but not heightened reactivity to trauma cues.

Quality of life and risk of psychiatric disorders among regular users of alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis: An analysis of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC)

“…Though we intentionally avoided the consideration of problematic levels of use in our analyses, future research may benefit from examining a range of frequencies and quantities of substance use and their relations with health outcomes. Given that the immediate and delayed effects of use vary by substance (Hawkins and Cougle, 2013;Linszen and van Amelsvoort, 2007;Peele and Brodsky, 2000), research may benefit from more precise examination of these effects for specific substances and their relations with physical and mental health. Lastly, some of the effect sizes for certain analyses were small and should be interpreted with caution.…”

“…Research has also linked smoking and nicotine dependence to increased risk of subsequent anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Koenen et al, 2005;Van der Velden et al, 2007). One recent study found experimental evidence for the role of nicotine use in PTSD, as nonsmokers who consumed a nicotine lozenge reported more intrusive thoughts immediately following the viewing of an analogue trauma video compared to those who consumed a placebo lozenge (Hawkins and Cougle, 2013). Research has also linked smoking to poorer quality of life (Crothers et al, 2005;Duffy et al, 2002), although some studies have not found this association (de Miguel Díez et al, 2010).…”

High-affinity α4β2 nicotinic receptors mediate the impairing effects of acute nicotine on contextual fear extinction

“…While nicotine dependence increases with PTSD, smoking has also been linked to increased severity of PTSD symptoms. For example, nicotine intake increased trauma-related intrusive memories (Hawkins & Cougle, 2013) as well as fear response to a trauma-related script (Calhoun et al, 2011). This suggests that PTSD may increase the severity of nicotine dependence; in return, nicotine may also worsen the fear-related symptoms.…”

Acute nicotine enhances spontaneous recovery of contextual fear and changes c-fos early gene expression in infralimbic cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala

“…Importantly, Breslau et al (2003) showed that PTSD patients had significantly higher rates of smoking initiation following trauma compared with individuals not exposed to trauma (31.7% versus 10.4%). In addition, there is evidence showing that acute nicotine intake increases the likelihood of intrusive traumatic memories in healthy nonsmokers (Hawkins and Cougle 2013). Moreover, evidence from multiple animal studies showed that acute nicotine enhances contextual fear learning (Gould and Higgins 2003;Gould and Lommock 2003;Davis et al 2006) and disrupts extinction of fear memories Kutlu et al 2016; for review, see Kutlu and Gould 2015).…”