Daniel Safvat
Professional Writer
- June 30, 2020
- 1:49 am
- No Comments
Is Nicotine Making a Comeback?
The main neurostimulant in tobacco is called nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive alkaloid compound with many different effects on the human brain including the release of dopamines, which helps explain Smokers’ urge to use tobacco. Tobacco is a well-known cause of cancer and many other deadly diseases; however, when we think Churchill and Einstein we can’t help but see the image of very heavy smokers. Many claim smoking helps them overcome stress, think better, or be creative. Some studies seem to support the beneficial effects of nicotine on the brain. And that is grabbing nootropic fans’ attention.
Researchers are beginning to call nicotine a nootropic because It has proven beneficial for memory, intelligence, creativity, mood, and executive functions in healthy subjects. Some clinical trials even suggest that it could play a major role in various neurological condition treatment. Nicotine works by modulating the release of neurotransmitters.
In a 2004 clinical trial published on National Institutes of Health (nih.org), simple actions such as the handwriting movements of 38 non-deprived smokers and 38 non-smokers was assessed, following the chewing of gum containing 0 mg, 2 mg or 4 mg of nicotine. Kinematic analysis of writing movements revealed that nicotine could produce “absolute improvements in handwriting”. Following nicotine administration, reduced movement times, increased velocities and more fluent handwriting movements were observed. The results show that nicotine can significantly improve psychomotor performance in a motor task.
It’s worth mentioning that many studies show such improvements, if derived from smoking cigarettes, are only temporary, and cigarette addiction withdrawal could negatively impact your memory and attentional capacities.
In a 2004 clinical trial published on National Institutes of Health (nih.org), simple actions such as the handwriting movements of 38 non-deprived smokers and 38 non-smokers was assessed, following the chewing of gum containing 0 mg, 2 mg or 4 mg of nicotine. Kinematic analysis of writing movements revealed that nicotine could produce “absolute improvements in handwriting”. Following nicotine administration, reduced movement times, increased velocities and more fluent handwriting movements were observed. The results show that nicotine can significantly improve psychomotor performance in a motor task.
It’s worth mentioning that many studies show such improvements, if derived from smoking cigarettes, are only temporary, and cigarette addiction withdrawal could negatively impact your memory and attentional capacities.
Another trial showed that nicotine may have positive effects on alertness in non-smokers. “nicotine significantly improved both EEG and self-rated measures of alertness. We conclude that nicotine increases alertness in non-smokers, but we found no improvement in spatial attention using a covert orienting task.”
New Zealand researchers concluded a trial with 16 adults (10 female) ranging in age from 18 – 32 years. All participants were smokers and were instructed not to smoke during the 2-hour period prior to the experiment.
Each subject completed the even and odd numbers of the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) test in two sessions, one involving smoking, the other – not smoking. APM is an IQ test.
There were two experimental sessions in which subjects were provided 20 minutes to finish the designated half of the APM. Before the test began, each individual took 6 puffs of a medium (0.8 mg) cigarette within a 2 minutes time-span. After 10 minutes, subjects were instructed to take 2 additional puffs.
The conclusion of this experiment showed that APM scores were significantly higher in the smoking session compared to the non-smoking session. This suggested that nicotine may act to enhance intelligence
A study at the University of Colorado could help answer some questions surrounding this boost in IQ. According to the research, nicotine increases the efficiency of neural communication between areas of the brain involved in cognition.
Nicotine Side Effects
Nicotine in any form is addictive. That has been proven over and over in many clinical trials. It may cause increased heart rate, dizziness, cough, allergic reaction such as sneezing, sinus problems, and headache, and constipation.
Nicotine does not directly cause cancer. But evidence suggests that it could be a tumor promoter. So those dealing with cancer should absolutely avoid nicotine. Also, If you are dealing with a gut infection of H pylori bacteria, you should not use nicotine.
Dosage
Nicotine as a nootropic is recommended to be dosed at 1 – 2 mg on occasional and an as needed basis. Nicotine gums come in 2 – 4 mg. Those can be split in half to provide 2 X 2mg doses. Nicotine lozenges are an option too. The 2 mg. mini-lozenge, cut in half, provides a nice cognitive boost in 10 – 20 minutes, according to NootropicExpert.
