Neural Signatures of Cognitive Flexibility and Reward Sensitivity Following Nicotinic Receptor Stimulation in Dependent Smokers: A Randomized Trial.

Importance: Withdrawal from nicotine is an important contributor to smoking relapse. Understanding how reward-based decision making is affected by abstinence and by pharmacotherapies such as nicotine replacement therapy and varenicline tartrate may aid cessation treatment.

Objective: To independently assess the effects of nicotine dependence and stimulation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor on the ability to interpret valence information (reward sensitivity) and subsequently alter behavior as reward contingencies change (cognitive flexibility) in a probabilistic reversal learning task.