Key result
Nicotine supplementation increases simulated archery scores by ~3% vs placebo and improves cognitive test times.
Why the study?
Given nicotine's benefits to mood, arousal, and cognition, the study investigated its effects on cognitive abilities, heart rate variability, and sport performance in professional archers.
Does 2 mg nicotine gum improve cognitive abilities, heart rate variability, and sport performance in healthy male archery athletes?
RCT (n=11)
Does 2 mg nicotine gum improve cognitive abilities, heart rate variability, and sport performance in healthy male archery athletes?
Absolute Event Rate: 298.05% vs 290.58%
p-value: p=<0.01
Acute supplementation with 2 mg of nicotine gum in nonsmoking archery athletes significantly improved cognitive function and simulated game performance while increasing sympathetic tone.
May enhance precision-sport performance acutely in nonsmokers; extends limited RCT data while flagging sympathetic-tone risks.
BACKGROUND: Nicotine is beneficial to mood, arousal and cognition in humans. Due to the importance of cognitive functioning for archery athletes, we investigated the effects of nicotine supplementation on the cognitive abilities, heart rate variability (HRV), and sport performance of professional archers. METHODS: Eleven college archers were recruited and given 2 mg of nicotine supplementation (NIC group) and placebo (PLA group) in a crossover design. RESULTS: The results showed that at 30 min after the intake of nicotine gum, the "correct rejection" time in the NIC group was significantly lower than that of the PLA group (7.29 ± 0.87 vs. 8.23 ± 0.98 msec, p < 0.05). In addition, the NIC group completed the grooved pegboard test in a shorter time than the PLA group (48.76 ± 3.18 vs. 53.41 ± 4.05 s, p < 0.05), whereas motor reaction times were not different between the two groups. Saliva α-amylase activity was significantly lower after nicotine supplementation (p < 0.01) but increased immediately after the archery test in the NIC group (p < 0.05). In addition, nicotine supplementation significantly decreased HRV and increased the archery score (290.58 ± 10.09 vs. 298.05 ± 8.56, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine enhances the performance of archery athletes by increasing cognitive function and stimulating the sympathetic adrenergic system.
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Hung et al. (2021) conducted an RCT in College archers (n=11). Nicotine supplementation (gum) vs. Placebo was evaluated on Archery score (p=<0.01). Nicotine supplementation significantly increased simulated archery game scores compared to placebo (298.05 vs 290.58, p<0.01) and improved cognitive test times in college archers.
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