Trial reportPsychopharmacology2014
Effect of varenicline on aspects of inhibitory control in smokers.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of varenicline and bupropion on laboratory smoking outcomes: Meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled human laboratory studies.Addiction biology · 2022Pooled it
- An exploratory, randomised, crossover study to investigate the effect of nicotine on cognitive function in healthy adult smokers who use an electronic cigarette after a period of smoking abstinence.Harm reduction journal · 2024Trial
- Varenicline as a treatment for cannabis use disorder: A placebo-controlled pilot trial.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Trial
- 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
- Functional network connectivity predicts treatment outcome during treatment of nicotine use disorder.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2017Trial
- Genetic Correlation and Mendelian Randomization Analysis Revealed an Unidirectional Causal Relationship Between Left Caudal Middle Frontal Surface Area and Cigarette Consumption.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Dissociable Effects of Theta-Burst Repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to the Inferior Frontal Gyrus on Inhibitory Control in Nicotine Addiction.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- The Role of Cognitive Control in the Self-Regulation and Reinforcement of Smoking Behavior.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2019Review
- Impact of Substance Use Disorder Pharmacotherapy on Executive Function: A Narrative Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Review
- Cognitive Effects of Nicotine: Recent Progress.Current neuropharmacology · 2018Review
- Current insights into the mechanisms and development of treatments for heavy drinking cigarette smokers.Current addiction reports · 2016Article
- Cognitive Dysfunction, Affective States, and Vulnerability to Nicotine Addiction: A Multifactorial Perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleVarenicline, a partial agonist at α4β2 nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) aids smoking cessation by reducing craving. Successful quitting may be associated with greater inhibitory control but the effectiveness of varenicline in this regard is unknown.
objectivesThis study aimed to investigate the effect of varenicline on aspects of inhibitory control in smokers.
methodsA double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigating the effect of varenicline 1 mg (or matched placebo) in satiated and abstinent smokers. Tests included Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP), Stop-Signal (SS), Prospective Memory (PM) and the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT).
resultsSmoking enhanced RVIP accuracy and latency to respond. Varenicline did not alter RVIP performance, nor the effect of smoking, suggesting that these effects were unrelated to α4β2 nAChRs. Smoking increased the number of errors during SS and increased the stop latency, indicating that smoking decreased inhibitory control. Varenicline partially mimicked this effect of smoking but also reduced the smoking-induced increase, indicating a role for α4β2 nAChRs. Likewise, smoking increased the number of points bet following a win during CGT and varenicline blocked this effect. There was no effect of smoking or varenicline on PM target detection per se. However, smoking protected the target detection rate in the ongoing task when a concurrent intention was introduced. Varenicline improved response speed in both satiated and abstinent smokers.
conclusionsSome aspects of inhibitory control may be mediated by α4β2-related mechanisms and blockade of smoking-induced disinhibition may contribute towards the action of varenicline as an aid to smoking cessation.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.