Nicotine and tobacco dependence: normalization or stimulation?

Abstract 

Nicotine and tobacco use produces mixed stimulant and depressant effects on various brain functions in animals and human beings. Results of electroencephalographic studies indicate that some tobacco smokers after 10–24 h of tobacco deprivation exhibit a decrease in dominant alpha rhythm, which, immediately after smoking, increases toward that of nonsmokers. This is evidence that tobacco smoking in smokers involves normalization of brain activity. Results of other studies of acute smoking effects in smokers show an increase in dominant alpha rhythm greater than that of nonsmokers. This is evidence that tobacco smoking produces stimulation of brain activity in smokers.

Keywords:  Electroencephalography, Dominant alpha frequency, Nicotine, Tobacco, Depression, Deprivation, Stimulation, Normalization