From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Mon Feb 21 2000 - 10:40:52 MST
"Joe E. Dees" <joedees@bellsouth.net> writes:
> Could the purported cognitive benefits of nicotine (improved
> memory and logical function) be due to the narcotic dampening
> effect nicotine has upon our perceptions, thus reducing
> phenomenal distractions from abstract processing?
Nicotine affects attention in a complex manner, and the memory effects
seem to be partially due to this, partially due to direct cholinergic
influence. I don't think the attention effect is due to perceptual
damping, there doesn't seem to be much support for that. Rather it
seems to be the reverse, the attentional changes acts as gating on our
senses.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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