Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Stress and Anxiety Research Lab, Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Nov 12;24(12):1906-1913. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac124.
The exploration of cognitive impairments associated with tobacco use disorder has expanded during the last decades, centrally showing working memory and executive deficits among smokers. Despite their critical role in everyday life and in the smoking cessation process, attentional abilities have seldom been explored. Previous studies yielded discordant results, and the involvement of attentional deficits in smoking habits remains unclear.
Capitalizing on the Attention Network Test, a theory-grounded task allowing the simultaneous but distinct evaluation of three attentional networks (alerting, orienting, executive control), we explored attentional abilities in three groups of 25 college students (nonsmokers, light smokers, heavy smokers), matched for demographic and psychopathological characteristics.
While light smokers did not present any deficit compared with nonsmokers, heavy smokers showed a specific impairment of the executive control subcomponent of attention, contrasting with preserved alerting and orienting attentional abilities. The executive control deficit was not related to current craving or to smoking duration.
Beyond the already explored memory and executive deficits, tobacco use disorder is associated with attentional impairments, characterized by a reduced ability to focus attentional resources on pertinent stimuli and resist to distractors interference. Given the assumed role of attentional impairments in smoking, our findings suggest that a critical step in future translational iterations is to develop neuropsychological rehabilitation programs tapping into the executive network of attention among smokers.
This study clarifies the presence and extent of attentional impairments in tobacco use disorder. We measured three attention networks (alerting, orienting, executive control) in light smokers, heavy smokers and matched healthy controls through a theory-grounded task (Attention Network Test). Heavy smokers (but not light ones) present a specific deficit for the executive control of attention. This deficit, uncorrelated with psychopathological comorbidities or current craving, appears directly related to smoking. Given the currently scattered literature on this topic, attentional processes deserve a thorough audit in tobacco use disorder, notably to develop specific neurocognitive rehabilitation.
在过去几十年中，对与烟草使用障碍相关的认知障碍的探索不断扩大，主要表现为吸烟者的工作记忆和执行功能缺陷。尽管它们在日常生活和戒烟过程中起着关键作用，但注意力能力很少被探索。以前的研究结果存在差异，注意力缺陷在吸烟习惯中的作用仍不清楚。
利用注意力网络测试（一种基于理论的任务，允许同时但不同地评估三个注意力网络（警觉、定向、执行控制）），我们在三组 25 名大学生（非吸烟者、轻度吸烟者、重度吸烟者）中探索了注意力能力，这些大学生在人口统计学和精神病理学特征方面相匹配。
轻度吸烟者与非吸烟者相比没有任何缺陷，而重度吸烟者表现出注意力执行控制子成分的特定损伤，而警觉和定向注意力能力保持不变。执行控制缺陷与当前的渴求或吸烟持续时间无关。
除了已经探索过的记忆和执行缺陷之外，烟草使用障碍还与注意力损伤有关，其特征是集中注意力资源于相关刺激的能力降低，以及抵抗分心干扰的能力降低。鉴于注意力损伤在吸烟中的假设作用，我们的研究结果表明，在未来的转化迭代中，一个关键步骤是开发针对吸烟者注意力执行网络的神经心理康复计划。
本研究阐明了烟草使用障碍中注意力损伤的存在和程度。我们通过一项基于理论的任务（注意力网络测试）测量了轻度吸烟者、重度吸烟者和匹配的健康对照组的三个注意力网络（警觉、定向、执行控制）。重度吸烟者（而不是轻度吸烟者）表现出注意力执行控制的特定缺陷。该缺陷与精神病理学共病或当前渴求无关，与吸烟直接相关。鉴于该主题的文献目前较为分散，注意力过程在烟草使用障碍中值得进行彻底的审查，特别是为了开发特定的神经认知康复。
