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Smoking impedes executive function and related prospective memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2014

T. M. Heffernan ,
A. Carling ,
T. S. O’Neill  and
C. Hamilton
T. M. Heffernan*
Affiliation:
Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research (CDAR), Division of Psychology, Northumbria University. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
A. Carling
Affiliation:
Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research (CDAR), Division of Psychology, Northumbria University. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
T. S. O’Neill
Affiliation:
Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research (CDAR), Division of Psychology, Northumbria University. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
C. Hamilton
Affiliation:
Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research (CDAR), Division of Psychology, Northumbria University. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr Thomas M. Heffernan, Ph.D., Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research (CDAR), Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK. (Email: tom.heffernan@northumbria.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Objective

This study assessed both executive function (EF) and prospective memory (PM) in a group of current smokers (CS) to observe whether deficits in both sets of memory processes co-existed in smokers, comparing this group with a group who had never smoked (NS).

Method

An existing-groups design was used to compare smokers with the NS group on a Reserve Digit Span Task (RDST) that measured EF and the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT) measuring PM. Age, mood, other drug use and IQ were also measured and controlled for in the study.

Results

After omitting anyone using an illegal substance and observing no between-group differences in age, gender, anxiety, depression, alcohol use and IQ, the CS group performed significantly worse on the RDST and recalled significantly fewer time-based and event-based tasks on CAMPROMPT, compared with the NS group.

Conclusions

Both EF and PM deficits were evident in the same cohort of CS when compared with a NS group, a finding which is novel in the current literature. Since both EF and PM are interrelated in that they share common resources in the brain, the finding that both sets of deficits co-existed in smokers suggests that persistent cigarette smoking impedes these underlying resources.

Keywords

CAMPROMPTexecutive functionprospective memoryRDSTsmoking
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , September 2014 , pp. 159 - 165
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2014 

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