Posted by linkadge on August 29, 2007, at 20:09:58
In reply to Re: EMSAM with transdermal nicotine for ADD contro, posted by cumulative on August 29, 2007, at 15:09:01
When stimulants work for ADHD they typically increase the ability of the individual to disregard irrelavant stimulii. If they are used in high doses, or doses required to get high, I believe the opposite can happen, ie they can greatly increase the contious awareness of otherwise irrelavant stimulii.
Nicotine shows some efficacy as an ADHD treatment on its ability to decrease distractability. Typically, a correct amount dopaminergic activity in the frontal cortex produces inhibition in other brain regions, too much or too little will alter latent inhition.
Unlike other stimulants, nicotine can modulate serotonergic firing in the dorsal raphai neucleus (kind of like the anxiolyic buspar), by modulating presynaptic serotonin autoreceptor function. This can reducing anxiety, and also help to decrease internal "background noise". It can be good for "mind noise" for this reason.
I think the propensity of stimulants to lower latent inhibition is also "disease dependant".
For instance, in schizphrenia, a stimulant may significantly increase the distractability, disturbed thought processes, and produce an overall cognative deterioration. It may make the individual *less* able to filter out irrelavant environmental stimuli. In such cases a stimulant would probably be lowering latent inhition.
For a person with ADHD, the stimulant generally increases the persons ability to filer out irrelavant environemental materials thus increasing latent inhibiton.
That would just be my speculation. The notion that stimulants lower latent inhibition probably also applies to when stimulants are abused in high enough that can cause psychosis etc.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:779241
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070824/msgs/779602.html