Acute and Chronic Nicotine Modulation of Reinforcement Learning

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria

for all subjects:

• generally healthy
• between the ages of 18-55
• right-handed

Inclusion criteria

for nonsmokers:

• smoked < 50 cigarettes of a brand delivering ≥ 0.5 mg nicotine (FTC method)
• have not smoked in ≥ 6 months
• afternoon expired CO concentration ≤ 5 ppm and/or morning urinary NicAlert < 100 ng/ml

Inclusion criteria

for smokers

• smoke ≥ 10 cigarettes/day of a brand delivering ≥ 0.5 mg nicotine (FTC method)
• smoked ≥ 2 years
• afternoon expired CO concentrations ≥ 10 ppm and/or morning urinary NicAlert > 100 ng/ml

Exclusion criteria

• inability to attend all required experimental sessions
• significant health problems (e.g., current and uncontrolled liver, lung, or heart problems, current or past seizure disorder, serious head trauma)
• lifetime diagnosis of Axis I psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia)
• meet DSM-V criteria for past or current substance dependence other than nicotine
• use of psychoactive medications as indicated by self-report
• use of smokeless tobacco, nicotine replacement therapy, or desire to change smoking behavior while in the study
• positive urine drug screen for illicit drugs or positive breath alcohol concentration
• presence of conditions that would make MRI unsafe
• having vision that cannot be corrected to 20/40
• among women, nursing or a positive pregnancy test
• inability to achieve learning criteria in training session