Effects of quitting smoking on EEG activation and attention last for more than 31 days and are more severe with stress, dependence, DRD2 A1 allele, and depressive traits.

Changes in physiology and attentional performance associated with smoking abstinence were characterized in 67 female smokers during low-stress and high-stress conditions. Abstinence was associated with decreases in cognitive performance, heart rate, and electroencephalographic (EEG) activation but with no change in serum estradiol or progesterone. Effects of quitting showed no tendency to resolve across the 31 days of abstinence. EEG deactivation and heart rate slowing were greater during a math task (high stress) than during relaxation (low stress). Individuals high in trait depression or nicotine dependence or with at least one dopamine D(2) receptor A1 allele experienced greater EEG deactivation following abstinence, especially in the right hemisphere during the stressful task. Thus, findings support the situation x trait adaptive response model of abstinence effects and emphasize the value of multiple dependent measures when characterizing abstinence responses.

Platelet monoamine oxidase B activity changes across 31 days of smoking abstinence.

Although recent studies demonstrate that tobacco cigarette smoke substantially inhibits both central nervous system and blood platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, little is known about the time course of MAO increases after smoking cessation. Therefore, changes in platelet MAO-B activity and mood were assessed before and at multiple times after quitting smoking. Quitting smoking was associated with a significant (22%) increase in MAO activity by day 3 and with a maximum increase (about 50%) by day 10 that was maintained through day 31 of abstinence. However, abstinence-related increases in depressive mood peaked at day 2 of abstinence, a week more rapidly than the peak increase in MAO-B activity. Neither mood nor MAO-B activity returned to baseline or smoking control levels across the 31-day abstinence period. The asynchrony of increased negative affect and MAO-B activity during the first few days of abstinence may reflect any of several possibilities. First, the duration of the platelet life cycle may not reflect central MAO-B or MAO-A activity. Second, MAO-B may not contribute to or index mood changes during the first days of abstinence though it may contribute to protracted abstinence-induced negative affect. These findings are discussed in terms of the hypothesis that platelet MAO activity reflects central nervous system MAO changes that promote increased depressive affect resulting from smoking abstinence.

Mood disturbance fails to resolve across 31 days of cigarette abstinence in women.

Smoking abstinence responses were characterized in 96 female smokers. Participants completed subjective state measures twice per week for 5 weeks and were then randomly assigned to a group required to abstain for 31 days or a control group that continued to smoke. Financial incentives for biochemically verified abstinence resulted in an 81% completion rate. Abstinence-related increases in depression, tension, anger, irritability, and appetite showed little tendency to return to prequit levels and remained significantly elevated above smoke-group levels. In contrast to psychological components of anxiety, physical components decreased to smoke group levels by the 2nd week of abstinence. Trait depression and neuroticism predicted larger increased abstinence-associated negative affect. The Big Five personality dimensions predicted variance not associated with depressive traits.