Medications Development for the Treatment of Nicotine Dependence in Individuals with Schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: The development of medications for the treatment of nicotine dependence in patients with schizophrenia is a public health priority due to its high prevalence rates, devastating medical consequences, and difficulty to treat. It has been hypothesized that the high prevalence of nicotine dependence among patients with schizophrenia may be due to a shared neurobiological vulnerability. This shared vulnerability has been evidenced in reports showing that nicotine improves neuropsychological deficits associated with schizophrenia such as in the P50 evoked auditory potentials, spatial working memory, and attention. The common pathophysiologic pathways of smoking and schizophrenia may serve as the basis for the pharmacological evaluation of medications for the treatment of these concurrent disorde

SUBMITTER: Montoya ID 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2633934 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature