Genetic, Developmental, and Receptor-Level Influences on Nicotine Withdrawal-Associated Deficits in Learning

While smoking prevalence rates have fallen dramatically over the last several decades, tobacco abuse remains one of the leading causes of preventable death. In smokers, changes in cognition during periods of abstinence are associated with relapse. Therefore, understanding the effects of nicotine on cognition underlying neural changes could advance the treatment of nicotine addiction. This chapter explores the relationship between nicotine withdrawal and changes in learning and memory as demonstrated in animal models. Of particular importance is how nicotine acts in the hippocampus and how withdrawal from chronic nicotine leads to deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning. In addition, this chapter will explore how genetic variation modulates the effects of nicotine withdrawal on learning. Specifically, we know that the heritability of nicotine withdrawal-associated deficits in learning is moderate to strong. Finally, the chapter will conclude with an examination of age-dependent effects of nicotine withdrawal and how early and late adolescents differ from adults in sensitivity to the effects of nicotine on learning.