A Better Understanding of How the Most Commonly Used ADHD Medication Works - Neuroscience News

Summary: Study reveals however methylphenidate interacts with cognitive power networks and attraction behaviors. Methylphenidate changes spontaneous neural enactment successful reward and cognitive power systems successful children with ADHD. The changes effect successful much unchangeable sustained attention.

Source: Elsevier

For decades, doctors person treated kids with attention-deficit/hyperactivity upset (ADHD) with methylphenidate, a stimulant cause sold arsenic Ritalin and Concerta, making it 1 of the astir wide prescribed medications aimed astatine the cardinal tense system. One mightiness expect that researchers would cognize however methylphenidate works successful the encephalon by now, but small is known astir the drug’s mechanics of action.

Now, a caller survey seeks to adjacent this spread and recognize however methylphenidate interacts with cognitive power networks and attentional behavior.

The caller survey appears in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

What researchers bash cognize is that individuals with ADHD person little dopamine signaling enactment than neurotypical individuals successful the interconnected encephalon networks that power attraction and goal-directed behaviors.

Specifically, methylphenidate is hypothesized to ameliorate ADHD symptoms by expanding dopamine levels successful the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a hub for dopamine signaling.

In the caller study, researchers led by Yoshifumi Mizuno, MD, Ph.D., Weidong Cai, Ph.D., and Vinod Menon, Ph.D., utilized encephalon imaging to research the effects of methylphenidate connected the NAc and a alleged triple web strategy that plays a cardinal relation successful behaviors that necessitate adaptive power of attention.

The 3 networks see the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks. Aberrant enactment was detected successful the NAc and successful aggregate encephalon networks successful children with ADHD, suggesting that dysregulation successful the strategy whitethorn underlie ADHD symptoms, and that correcting the dysfunction mightiness alleviate those symptoms.

“Our findings show successful 2 autarkic cohorts that methylphenidate changes spontaneous neural enactment successful reward and cognitive power systems successful children with ADHD. Medication-induced changes successful cognitive power networks effect successful much unchangeable sustained attention.

“Our findings uncover a caller encephalon mechanics underlying methylphenidate attraction successful ADHD and pass biomarker improvement for evaluating attraction outcomes,” noted Dr. Menon, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine.

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measurement the effects of methylphenidate connected spontaneous encephalon enactment successful 27 children with ADHD and 49 typically processing controls. Children with ADHD were scanned during 2 antithetic visits 1 to six weeks apart—once portion receiving methylphenidate and erstwhile portion receiving a placebo. (Typically processing children did not person medicine oregon placebo.)

The 3 networks see the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks. Image is successful the nationalist domain

Outside the scanner, children with ADHD besides performed a standardized task to measure sustained attention. Additionally, the researchers tested the replicability of methylphenidate’s effects connected spontaneous encephalon enactment successful a 2nd autarkic cohort.

Not surprisingly, children performed amended connected the attraction tasks erstwhile they were medicated. And arsenic the researchers hypothesized, they besides saw greater spontaneous neural enactment successful the NAc and the salience and default mode networks erstwhile methylphenidate was administered.

Children with ADHD who displayed enhanced changes successful encephalon enactment patterns successful the default mode web with medicine performed amended connected the attraction tasks with medication.

Findings were replicated crossed 2 autarkic cohorts, providing further grounds that methylphenidate whitethorn alleviate ADHD symptoms by its actions connected the NAc and the triple web cognitive system.

Cameron Carter, MD, exertion of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, said of the study, “The findings, which utilized the wide disposable method of resting-state functional MRI, corroborate the affirmative effects of methylphenidate connected attraction successful children with ADHD and uncover the apt mechanics of action, done improved coordinated encephalon web enactment and a apt cardinal relation for enhanced dopamine effects successful the NAc portion of the brain.”

The enactment advances researchers’ knowing of however ADHD affects cognitive power networks successful the encephalon and how methylphenidate interacts with these networks to displacement behavior. The findings could usher aboriginal enactment using brain imaging arsenic a clinically utile biomarker of effect to treatments.

About this ADHD and neuropsychopharmacology probe news

Author: Press Office
Source: Elsevier
Contact: Press Office – Elsevier
Image: The representation is successful the nationalist domain

Original Research: Open access.
“Methylphenidate enhances spontaneous fluctuations successful reward and cognitive power networks successful children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” by Yoshifumi Mizuno et al. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

Abstract

Methylphenidate enhances spontaneous fluctuations successful reward and cognitive power networks successful children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Background

Methylphenidate, a first-line attraction for attention-deficit/hyperactivity upset (ADHD), is thought to power dopaminergic neurotransmission successful the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and its associated encephalon circuitry, but this proposal has yet to beryllium systematically tested.

Methods

We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind crossover proceedings with 27 children with ADHD. Children with ADHD were scanned doubly with resting-state functional MRI nether methylphenidate and placebo conditions, on with appraisal of sustained attention. We examined spontaneous neural enactment successful the NAc and the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks, and their links to behavioral changes. Replicability of methylphenidate effects connected spontaneous neural enactment was examined successful a 2nd autarkic cohort.

Results

Methylphenidate accrued spontaneous neural enactment successful the NAc, and the salience and default mode networks. Methylphenidate-induced changes successful spontaneous enactment patterns successful the default mode web were associated with improvements successful intra-individual effect variability during a sustained attraction task. Critically, contempt differences successful objective proceedings protocols and information acquisition parameters, the NAc, and the salience and default mode networks showed replicable patterns of methylphenidate-induced changes successful spontaneous enactment crossed 2 autarkic cohorts.

Conclusions

We supply reproducible grounds demonstrating that methylphenidate enhances spontaneous neural enactment successful NAc and cognitive power networks successful children with ADHD, resulting successful much unchangeable sustained attention. Findings place a caller neural mechanics underlying methylphenidate attraction successful ADHD and pass the improvement of clinically utile biomarkers for evaluating attraction outcomes.