Inhibitory control dysfunction in nicotine dependence and the influence of short-term abstinence

Although the majority of substance use disorders depict reliable deficits in inhibitory control (IC), similar deficits are not consistently found in nicotine dependence. The mixed results of past research may have been due to confounding variables known to independently influence IC function, including age, concurrent drug use and particularly, length of nicotine abstinence.

A stop signal task was used to examine stop signal reaction time (SSRT), a typical measure of IC, in nicotine dependence across two studies that attempted to closely control for IC confounds. Study 1 compared the SSRT of 37 dependent cigarette smokers (11 females) to 36 non-smokers (13 females), following 3-h of nicotine abstinence. Study 2 compared 22 dependent cigarette smokers' (11 females) SSRT scores when satiated on nicotine to their performance following 10-h of nicotine abstinence.

Nicotine dependent individuals did not differ from controls in SSRT performance following 3-h abstinence, but showed a significant decline in performance following 10-h abstinence, when compared to nicotine satiation.

During shorter abstinence periods, the acute benefits of nicotine satiation appear to facilitate inhibitory control; however, IC was poorer during extended periods of nicotine abstinence. In turn, this suggests that the reliability of IC dysfunction in nicotine dependence varies according to abstinence length and needs to be carefully considered for future behavioural and neuroimaging examination of IC within this population.