Abstract:  Previous studies have investigated the influence of smoking or nicotine intake on prospective memory (PM), and indicated that smoking or nicotine intake can affect PM in two ways. On one hand, nicotine can transiently stimulate the release of neurotransmitters and improve PM by promoting strategic processing in the short term; on the other hand, smoking can damage neurons and cardiac or cerebral blood vessels, decrease the level of cognitive and executive function, and thus impair PM in the long term. Future studies should further clarify the mechanisms of the influence of smoking or nicotine intake on PM on the basis of differentiating PM tasks and the ways of nicotine intake.

Key words:  smoking, nicotine intake, prospective memory, cognitive function