Conditions: Smoking
Keywords: Non-treatment seeking smokers, reporting consumption of at least 10 cigarettes per day for at least the past 6 months
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 30
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The objective of this proof-of-concept pilot study is to evaluate Donepezil HCL (Aricept) for side effects and effects on smoking behavior and performance on neurocognitive tasks in a population of dependent smokers.

Detailed description:
Nicotine dependence is a major public health problem and currently available treatments are ineffective for the majority of smokers. Thus, there is a need to develop and test novel medications to assist smokers to quit smoking. This pilot feasibility study examined: (1) tolerability and medication adherence, and (2) the effects of donepezil versus placebo on smoking behavior and cognitive performance in non-treatment seeking smokers. We predicted that 4 weeks of donepezil would improve working memory at the highest task difficulty level and sustained attention. Because participants in this study were not trying to quit, change in smoking behavior was a secondary outcome.

Arms:
arm 1: Participants are instructed to take one placebo pill every night before going to bed with a glass of water for 28 days. arm 2: Participants are instructed to take one 5mg pill (donepezil HCL \[Aricept®\]) every night before going to bed with a glass of water for 28 days.

Interventions: intervention 1: Donepezil intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: None intervention 2: None

Protocol document: