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Published on: February 20, 2019
Nicotine withdrawal and reward responsivity in a card-sorting task
Natasha Kalamboka1, Bob Remington, Steven Glautier
1School of Psychology, Southampton University, Southampton, UK.
Psychopharmacology
|January 20, 2009
Summary
Nicotine withdrawal slows performance improvement on cognitive tasks, even without affecting direct reward responsivity. This suggests a novel reward-related effect beyond reduced motivation during nicotine cessation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Addiction Research
Background:
- Animal studies show reduced reward responsiveness during nicotine withdrawal.
- The Card Arranging Reward Responsivity Objective Test (CARROT) measures reward responsivity in humans.
- Previous research explored nicotine withdrawal's impact on reward responsivity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if nicotine withdrawal causes slower performance improvements on a card-sorting task.
- To explore potential reward-related effects of nicotine withdrawal beyond direct reward responsivity.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments utilized a modified CARROT (mCARROT).
- Compared performance of participants in nicotine withdrawal versus those satiated.
- Assessed task performance over a series of trials.
Main Results:
- Nicotine withdrawal did not directly affect the mCARROT measure of reward responsivity.
- Participants in withdrawal exhibited a lower overall sorting rate.
- The improvement in sorting rate across trials was slower in the withdrawal group.
Conclusions:
- Nicotine withdrawal impacts cognitive task performance independently of reward responsivity.
- Findings suggest a novel reward-related effect associated with nicotine withdrawal.
- This effect is separate from changes in motivation or direct reward processing.
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