ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to determine nicotine’s effect on turning preference and attentional asymmetry in young and healthy adults. A total of 40 university students aged between 18 and 30 years volunteered as participants. There were 20 smoker/20 non-smoker, right-handed, healthy males in each group. All participants attended the same trial twice and performed Landmark Test and Turning Preference Test. Smokers attended one trial in deprivation, labeled as “yok(+)”, and in the other trial they didn't change their smoking habit, labeled as “yok(-)”. The data was analyzed by using Two-Way ANOVA, Student t, Paired t, Kruskal Wallis, Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests. A level of p<0,05 was considered as statistically significant. It was found that all participants biased left in turning preference test but there was no difference between the groups. In Landmark Test, asymmetry index was calculated by using participants’ answers in equally bisected lines. For all participants, smallest asymmetry index was in left area followed by central and right areas. In left and central areas asymmety index was negative. In the right area asymmetry index was positive. There were statistically significant differences between all three areas. Multiway analyzes has been made between non-smoking, yok(+) and yok(-) groups and no statistically significant difference was found. This research indicated that, nicotine have no significant effect on turning preference and Landmark Test results. Furthermore, no correlation was found between turning prefference and Landmark Test results which indicates that there is no significant relationship between dopaminergic asymmetry and attentional asymmetry.

Keywords: Cerebral Asymmetry, Landmark Test, Nicotine, Turning Preference