A Multi-Modal Investigation of the Smoking Cessation Medication Varenicline: Dopaminergic Modulation of Reward Processing and Cognitive Control
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00830739. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Background: * Chronic nicotine exposure through cigarette smoking affects the level of the brain chemical dopamine. Smokers who attempt to quit experience lower levels of dopamine, which increases anxiety and triggers nicotine cravings that make quitting more difficult. * Varenicline (Chantix) is a smoking cessation medication that is designed to reduce nicotine craving and withdrawal by slightly increasing levels of dopamine in the brain. Research has shown that varenicline is a safe, well-tolerated, and effective treatment for nicotine dependence, but researchers are interested in learning more about how it affects the brain and its function. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) will help researchers study the brain s response to nicotine and varenicline. Objectives: \- To explore how varenicline affects brain function and behavioral performance in current smokers and healthy volunteers. Eligibility: \- Individuals between 18 and 55 years of age who are either current smokers (10 or more cigarettes per day) or healthy nonsmoking volunteers. Design: * The study will involve nine testing and research visits over 5 to 6 weeks. The first visit will provide an initial assessment and training on the tasks that will be completed during the study. * Six testing visits will involve fMRI and EEG measurements of brain activity. Each visit will contain two 2-hour scanning sessions, and each session will involve thinking tests. During these visits, participants will receive varenicline and placebo tablets, and wear nicotine patches and placebo patches that do not contain nicotine. Participants will not be told which tablet or patch they are given. This is a crossover study so all participants eventually get nicotine and placebo, as well as varenicline and placebo. * Two other visits involve different thinking tasks. These visits will not require fMRI or EEG scans.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00830739
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Observational
- Phase
- Not listed
- Enrollment
- 61 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
Not listed
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 55 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Nov 24, 2008
- Primary completion
- Not listed
- Completion
- Feb 25, 2013
- Last update posted
- Jul 4, 2018
2008 – 2013
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institute on Drug Abuse, Biomedical Research Center (BRC) | Baltimore | Maryland | 21224 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00830739, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jul 4, 2018 · Synced Sep 4, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT00830739 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.