Cognitive profile in tobacco smokers: relationship with respiratory parameters and oxidative stress

Abstract

Smoking tobacco affects the central nervous system in several ways, among which decreased brain oxygen supply and alterated metabolism of gasotransmissors as nitric oxide and carbon monoxide. However, the relationship of these effects with the cognitive damage of smoking are largely unknown and will be explored in this project through a cross-sectional study with 80 subjects. The main purpose is to characterize the cognitive impairment of smokers and to determine how this injury is related to respiratory parameters / oxidative stress in young adults with high and low cognitive stimulation (schooling level / purchasing power), since the latter affects both smoking and cognition. This study has the potential to better understanding of the effects of smoking on cognition, considering different levels of cognitive stimulation (schooling / socioeconomic status), and to establish possible correlations between physiological and biochemical alterations (respiratory parameters and oxidative stress) with cognitive changes attributed to this habit. (AU)