Neural expression of nicotine's antidepressant properties during tryptophan depletion: An EEG study in healthy volunteers at risk for depression

Nicotine amelioration of serotonergically mediated mood dysregulation may contribute to the comorbidity between cigarette smoking and depression, a disorder which is associated with aberrant activation and hemispheric asymmetry in frontal and posterior cortical regions. This randomized, double-blind study in 20 healthy volunteers with a positive family history of depression examined the effects of transdermal nicotine on mood and EEG changes accompanying transient reductions in serotonin induced by acute tryptophan depletion (ATD). Increased self-ratings of depressed mood and elevation in left frontal high alpha power (decreased activation) were evidenced with ATD (vs. balanced mixture) in participants treated with the placebo but not the nicotine treated group. Nicotine alone increased vigor and posterior high alpha bilaterally, and during ATD it prevented the reduction in left frontal high alpha that was evident in the placebo patch group.These findings indicate that in depression prone individuals, nicotine acts to stabilize the mood lowering and associated frontal functional asymmetry elicited by an acute decrease in brain serotonin.

► In depression prone individuals, tryptophan depletion induces mood lowering and an asymmetric frontal alpha similar to that seen in depression.
► Nicotine treatment counteracts depressed mood and frontal EEG changes accompanying transient reductions in serotonin.
► Posterior EEG alpha augmentation induced with nicotine may play a separate role in the emotional modulating effects of tobacco smoking.