Trial reportNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2013
Effects of short-term varenicline administration on emotional and cognitive processing in healthy, non-smoking adults: a randomized, double-blind, study.
Trial report in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Nicotine receptor partial agonists for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Cigarette smoking and depression comorbidity: systematic review and proposed theoretical model.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2017Pooled it
- Nicotine receptor partial agonists for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Risk of neuropsychiatric adverse events associated with varenicline: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2015Pooled it
- The effect of varenicline on mood and cognition in smokers with HIV.Psychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Effects of varenicline on cognitive performance in heavy drinkers: Dose-response effects and associations with drinking outcomes.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Pharmacological intervention and abstinence in smokers undergoing cessation treatment: A psychophysiological study.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2018Trial
- Effect of Varenicline Combined with High-Dose Alcohol on Craving, Subjective Intoxication, Perceptual Motor Response, and Executive Cognitive Function in Adults with Alcohol Use Disorders: Preliminary Findings.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2016Trial
- Effect of varenicline on aspects of inhibitory control in smokers.Psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Varenicline effects on drinking, craving and neural reward processing among non-treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals.Psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Effects of short-term varenicline administration on cortisol in healthy, non-smoking adults: a randomized, double-blind, study.Psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Cytisinicline vs. Varenicline in Tobacco Addiction: A Literature Review Focused on Emotional Regulation, Psychological Symptoms, and Mental Health.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Combined Effect of Smoking and Obesity on Hypertension: Implications for Clinical Management.Current hypertension reviews · 2025Review
- Neuromodulation of prefrontal cortex cognitive function in primates: the powerful roles of monoamines and acetylcholine.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Review
- α4β2Annals of neurology · 2021Article
- Emotional Biases and Recurrence in Major Depressive Disorder. Results of 2.5 Years Follow-Up of Drug-Free Cohort Vulnerable for Recurrence.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Article
- Impact of Substance Use Disorder Pharmacotherapy on Executive Function: A Narrative Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Review
- Compromised neuroplasticity in cigarette smokers under nicotine withdrawal is restituted by the nicotinic αScientific reports · 2017Article
- Vulnerability for new episodes in recurrent major depressive disorder: protocol for the longitudinal DELTA-neuroimaging cohort study.BMJ open · 2016Article
- Effects of the nicotinic agonist varenicline on the performance of tasks of cognition in aged and middle-aged rhesus and pigtail monkeys.Psychopharmacology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Varenicline is an effective and increasingly prescribed drug for smoking cessation, but has been associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior. However, it remains unclear whether those changes in mood and behavior are directly related to varenicline use, or caused by smoking cessation itself or reflects depression and suicidality rates in smokers, independent of treatment. To investigate the influence of varenicline on mood and behavior independent of smoking and smoking cessation, we assessed the effects of varenicline on emotional processing (a biomarker of depressogenic effects), emotion-potentiated startle reactivity, impulsivity (linked with suicidal behavior), and cognitive performance in non-smoking subjects. We used a randomized, double-blind design, in which we administered varenicline or placebo to healthy subjects over 7 days (0.5 mg/day first 3 days, then 1 mg/day). Cognitive and emotional processing was assessed by a battery of computerized tasks and recording of emotion-potentiated startle response. A total of 41 subjects were randomized, with 38 subjects included in the analysis. The varenicline group did not differ from placebo in terms of negative biases in emotional processing or mood. However, compared with placebo, the varenicline group scored higher on working and declarative memory. In conclusion, short-term varenicline use did not influence negative biases in emotional processing or impulsivity in non-smoking subjects, thereby not supporting direct depressogenic or suicidal risk behavior-inducing effects. In contrast, varenicline may have cognitive-enhancing effects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.