Memory and smoking

[jr_sci]

Whenever I smoke cigarettes I feel as if whatever I am studying and whatever I am practicing in maths goes into my head easily.

Does smoking increases memory?

[websurfpro]

Smoking Causes Memory And Cognitive Impairment In Adolescents

ScienceDaily (Feb. 8, 2005) — New Haven, Conn. — Adolescents who smoke show impairment of memory and other cognitive functions, according to a Yale study in Biological Psychiatry.

More than 4.5 million teenagers smoke cigarettes in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Leslie Jacobsen, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, and her research team tested working memory. This form of memory is used when keeping information in mind and manipulating it. They also evaluated verbal learning and memory, attention, mood, symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and tobacco cravings in 41 adolescent daily smokers and 32 nonsmokers. The groups were similar in age, gender and education.

“Adolescent smokers were found to have impairments in accuracy of working memory performance,” Jacobsen said. Other studies show adult non–smokers and smokers have comparable focused, sustained and selective attention, and improved working memory, suggesting enhancement of performance by nicotine.

Male adolescents as a group begin smoking at an earlier age than female smokers and were significantly more impaired during tests of selective and divided attention, she said. All of the adolescent smokers also showed further disruption of working memory when they stopped smoking.

“These findings underscore the importance of efforts aimed at preventing smoking initiation in adolescents. They also show adolescents who are trying to quit smoking may need additional educational support,” Jacobsen said.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Co–authors include John Krystal, M.D., W. Einar Mencl, Michael Westerveld, Stephen Frost, and Kenneth Pugh, of Yale.

Citation: Biological Psychiatry, Vol. 57; pp 56–66 (January 2005)

Adapted from materials provided by Yale University.
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Quite a nice article , it seems that smoking does increase our memory, but i dont v\bekieve this is long term thing, a heavy smoker can reduce his memory by smoking.

[attagirl]

Maybe that is because you are more relaxed and not thinking about the pressures of trying to remember what you are studying. Who knows why it does this, but maybe there is something there.

[fever]

At this time you feel good while smoking as you think that it helps to increase your memory but it is a myth but at a later stage it will ruin your mind and brain

[Rohitpatel]

Well I read an article in newspapers about this and I think during smoking your mind is too relaxed and you doesn't care about your study. Just think that you can do study well even doing smoking. I am sure you will feel better than now.

[Ronaldo]

Its just that you don't try to care about anything. You feel as if you are free. You don't have the tension in you so everything gets into your head easily.

[HEROS]

At first we take up smoking as style mantra but later on it is cigarette which is taking our lives , slowly but gradually . Smoking in no way help increase memory

[HEROS]

Its all on our subconscious mind . After smoking we think that way hence it seems that it is increasing our memory but in real if we take an apple an thinklike in case of smoking it will give far better results.

[Swastik]

May be ciagrettes contains that kind of drug which effects your mind. So avoid smoking habit.