Showing papers in "Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology in 1994"

Comparative epidemiology of dependence on tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, and inhalants: Basic findings from the National Comorbidity Survey.

Abstract: Studying prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (3rd ed., rev., American Psychiatric Association, 1987) drug dependence among Americans 15-54 years old, we found about 1 in 4 (24%) had a history of tobacco dependence; about 1 in 7 (14%) had a history of alcohol dependence; and about 1 in 13 (7.5%) had a history of dependence on an inhalant or controlled drug. About one third of tobacco smokers had developed tobacco dependence and about 15% of drinkers had become alcohol dependent. Among users of the other drugs, about 15% had become dependent. Many more Americans age 15-54 have been affected by dependence on psychoactive substances than by other psychiatric disturbances now accorded a higher priority in mental health service delivery systems, prevention, and sponsored research programs. The aim of this article is to report basic descriptive findings from new research on the epidemiology of drug dependence syndromes, conducted as part of the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS). In this study, our research team secured a nationally representative sample and applied standardized diagnostic assessments in a way that allows direct comparisons across prevalence estimates and cor

Nicotine and Smoking: A Review of Effects on Human Performance

Abstract: The purpose of this review was to examine the effects of nicotine administration and cigarette smoking on human performance to clarify the role of such effects in controlling smoking. The results of 101 studies (129 experiments) published in scientific journals from 1970-1993 were reviewed. In nonabstinent smokers and nonsmokers, nicotine enhanced finger tapping and motor responses in tests of attention; cognitive functioning was not reliably enhanced. It is unlikely that these limited performance-enhancing effects of nicotine play an important role in the initiation of cigarette smoking. In contrast, data from abstinent smokers support the conclusion that nicotine deprivation functions to maintain smoking in nicotine-dependent persons, in part, because nicotine can reverse withdrawal-induced deficits in several areas of performance.

Acute behavioral effects of triazolam and caffeine, alone and in combination, in humans.

Abstract: The widespread use of benzodiazepines and caffeine makes their combined use inevitable. The purpose of the present experiment was to assess the acute effects of lorazepam (0, 2.8 and 5.6 mg/70 kg) and caffeine (0, 250 and 500 mg/70 kg), alone and in combination, on human learning, performance and self-reports. Subjects were nine healthy, male volunteers. Subjects received all possible combinations according to a Latin Square design. Lorazepam administered alone dose-dependently disrupted learning and performance on the Repeated Acquisition and Performance procedure and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), and increased subject ratings of sedation. Caffeine administered alone did not affect learning, performance or subject ratings to a statistically significant degree. Caffeine attenuated lorazepam-induced decrements in learning and performance on the Repeated Acquisition and Performance procedure and DSST. Consistent with the learning and performance measures, caffeine offset lorazepam-induced increases in subject ratings of sedation. These results demonstrate that caffeine generally attenuates the behavioral and self-reported effects of lorazepam on a variety of performance measures. An important extension of these findings would be to test the combined effects of lorazepam and caffeine in other behavioral paradigms such as drug self-administration.