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Nicotine Effects on Memory Performance

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Effects of Nicotine on Biological Systems II

Part of the book series: Advances in Pharmacological Sciences ((APS))

Summary

Nicotine has been found by many but not all studies to improve and mecamylamine to impair performance on cognitive tasks in humans and experimental animals. In our laboratory, a very reproducible finding has been that chronic infusion of nicotine significantly improves memory performance in a win-shift version of the radial-arm maze. Nicotine attenuates the memory deficits caused by lesions of the fimbria-fornix or the medial basalocortical projection. Chronic co-administration of the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine eliminates the nicotine effect. Some aspects of the cognitive deficit in Alzheimer’s disease are attenuated by nicotine, suggesting promise for the therapeutic use of nicotine or other nicotinic ligands for cognitive dysfunction.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Edward D. Levin

  2. Department of Biochemistry, University of Bath, UK

    Diane Tony

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  1. Edward D. Levin
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  2. Diane Tony
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, 3655 Drummond Street, H3G 1Y6, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Paul Brian Sydenham Clarke  & Maryka Quik  & 

  2. Stiftung für Verhalten und Umwelt, Pettenkoferstrasse 12, D-80336, München, Germany

    Franz Adlkofer (Sekretär) (Sekretär)

  3. Physiologisches Institut, Universität München, Pettenkoferstrasse 12, D-80336, München, Germany

    Klaus Thurau (Vorstand) (Vorstand)

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© 1995 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel

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Levin, E.D., Tony, D. (1995). Nicotine Effects on Memory Performance. In: Clarke, P.B.S., Quik, M., Adlkofer, F., Thurau, K. (eds) Effects of Nicotine on Biological Systems II. Advances in Pharmacological Sciences. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7445-8_43

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7445-8_43

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-7447-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-7445-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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