Improvement in Memory Deficits Schizophrenia patients have been found by Dr. Robert Freedman and his group at the University of Colorado to have a deficiency of nicotinic receptors in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important in attention to new sensory stimuli and memory formation. At Duke University Medical Center, Drs. Haloperidol causes a dose-related increase in ad lib smoking. Patients with schizophrenia may smoke at high rates to both treat the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia and to alleviate the adverse side effects of classic antipsychotic drugs. Certainly we are not advocating cigarette smoking in patients with schizophrenia.
Cigarette smoking has a variety of health impairing effects.
However, nicotine delivered by other means, such as nicotine skin patches, may be useful for treating some of the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia and cognitive deficits which result from antipsychotic medication. To date, the only FDA approved general use for nicotine skin patches is to help people quit smoking. Other uses, including use as an adjunct in treating schizophrenia, are under investigation. In addition, sister drugs to nicotine, nicotinic agonists, are being developed by a number of pharmaceutical companies for possible therapeutic use. Research over the next few years will be crucial in the possible development of novel nicotinic treatment in schizophrenia to help reduce their high incidence of smoking and provide relief from cognitive dysfunction.