Evidence for positive allosteric modulation of cognitive-enhancing effects of nicotine in healthy human subjects.

Rationale: Cognitive benefits of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonists are well established but have generally been of small magnitude and uncertain clinical significance. A way of raising the effect size may be to facilitate agonist-induced responses by co-administering a nAChR positive allosteric modulator (PAM).

Objective: The aim was to test whether galantamine, a PAM at several nAChR subtypes, can potentiate the cognitive-enhancing effects of nicotine.

Nicotine effects on cognitive remediation training outcome in people with schizophrenia: A pilot study.

Cognitive remediation training can alleviate cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia, but the impact is limited by small effect sizes. The present study aimed at augmenting training effects by administering nicotine prior to training sessions. Twenty-five people with schizophrenia were enrolled in a 10-week, 5 days/week, computerized cognitive training regimen.