Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: thedoc on 07/06/2013 07:46:41

Title: How can nicotine affect attention?
Post by: thedoc on 07/06/2013 07:46:41: Moving from infant brain development to the teenage brain, with a shock finding on how nicotine in cigarettes affects attention.
Read a transcript of the interview by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1000257/)

or [chapter podcast=1000394 track=13.06.07/Naked_Neuroscience_13.06.07_1000858.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) Listen to it now[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/13.06.07/Naked_Neuroscience_13.06.07_1000858.mp3)
Title: Re: How can nicotine affect attention?
Post by: grizelda on 08/06/2013 04:43:41: Having your ability to pay attention to your normal necessities impaired lets you be more attentive to the necessity of getting your next fix of nicotine on schedule.
Title: Re: How can nicotine affect attention?
Post by: evan_au on 08/06/2013 12:49:23: If nicotine exposure as a teenager produces an attention deficit which lasts into adulthood, could nicotine exposure as an infant (or in the womb) contribute to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD or ADHD when coupled with Hyperactivity) which is increasingly being diagnosed amongst schoolchildren?
Title: Re: How can nicotine affect attention?
Post by: cheryl j on 09/06/2013 00:45:00: Quote from: evan_au on 08/06/2013 12:49:23
If nicotine exposure as a teenager produces an attention deficit which lasts into adulthood, could nicotine exposure as an infant (or in the womb) contribute to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD or ADHD when coupled with Hyperactivity) which is increasingly being diagnosed amongst schoolchildren?

Well, if so, you would expect to see it rapidly declining, since a lot more adults smoked in the '60s and '70s than now.
Title: Re: How can nicotine affect attention?
Post by: chris on 11/06/2013 21:31:31: Point taken, Cheryl, but we're also likely to be making more diagnoses now than before since awareness of the condition is higher.