THE EFFECTS OF NICOTINE ON EMOTIONAL MEMORY

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 研究表明，尼古丁在给非吸烟者服用时会导致情绪和注意力下降。然而，其他研究表明，尼古丁可以促进患有精神障碍(如精神分裂症)的患者的认知功能和改善记忆。因此，尼古丁似乎对情绪处理有影响，然而，具体的机制和潜在的大脑功能解剖尚不清楚。尼古丁在大脑中作用的化学途径与自然产生的化学物质乙酰胆碱相似。乙酰胆碱是胆碱能系统的一种成分，与学习和记忆有关。我们将研究操纵尼古丁是否会影响记忆任务，特别是针对正常健康志愿者的情绪记忆处理。 这项研究包括使用核磁共振扫描仪对16名健康、不吸烟的年轻人进行脑功能成像。受试者将完成两个学习日，在那里他们将获得尼古丁贴片或安慰剂贴片。然后，我们将使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)检查在情绪信息编码过程中激活的大脑区域。尼古丁贴片用于刺激靶向大脑系统。记忆任务是情感配价的；这意味着受试者将看到中性或负电荷的单词和图像。通过观察在核磁共振扫描中给出的记忆任务中激活的大脑区域，并检查受试者后来如何识别他们所研究的单词和图像，我们将能够评估这种尼古丁刺激影响的大脑回路。这些结果将帮助我们了解情绪记忆的神经生物学，从而有助于寻找影响我们情绪处理的障碍的治疗方法。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Studies have suggested that nicotine causes a decrease in mood and concentration when administered to non-smokers. However other studies have shown that nicotine can facilitate cognitive functioning and improve memory in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders, such as Schizophrenia. Thus, nicotine seems to have an effect on emotional processing, however the specific mechanisms and underlying functional brain anatomy are not known. Nicotine acts on similar chemical pathways in the brain as the naturally occurring chemical acetylcholine. Acetylcholine, a component of the cholinergic system, is associated with learning and memory. We will examine whether manipulating nicotine has an affect on memory tasks, specifically targeting the emotional memory processing in normal healthy volunteers. This study involves functional brain imaging using an MRI scanner of 16 healthy, non-smoking, young adults. Subjects will complete two study days where they will either receive a nicotine patch or a placebo patch. We will then examine brain areas activated during the encoding of emotional information using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The nicotine patch is used to stimulate targeted brain systems. The memory tasks are emotionally-valenced; meaning that subjects will be shown words and images that are either neutral or negatively charged. By observing the brain areas activated during the memory task given in the MRI scan and examining how a subject later recognizes the words and images they studied, we will be able to assess the brain circuitry affected by this nicotinic stimulation. These results will help us understand the neurobiology of emotional memory and thus facilitate the search for treatment for disorders affecting our emotional processing.