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Methylphenidate does not improve interference control during a working memory task in young patients with

Alexander Prehn-Kristensen1, Kerstin Krauel, Hermann Hinrichs

  • 1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Niemannsweg 147, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, 24105 Kiel, Germany. a.prehn@zip-kiel.de

Brain Research
|March 10, 2011
PubMed
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Methylphenidate (MPH) improved working memory (WM) in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but did not reduce distractibility. MPH enhanced prefrontal activity, yet caudate activity, crucial for ignoring distractions, remained unaffected in ADHD patients.

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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychopharmacology

Background:

  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with working memory (WM) deficits, potentially due to prefrontal cortex dysfunction.
  • Methylphenidate (MPH) can improve WM in ADHD by enhancing prefrontal activity, but its effect on distractibility is unclear.
  • Striatal activation changes in ADHD may increase sensitivity to interference during WM tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether methylphenidate (MPH) reduces working memory (WM) distractibility in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
  • To examine the effects of MPH on brain activity, specifically prefrontal and striatal regions, during WM tasks with and without distractors in ADHD patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study involving 12 ADHD patients and 12 healthy controls.
  • Participants completed a delayed-match-to-sample task with and without a distractor stimulus during the delay interval.
  • ADHD patients received MPH in one session and a placebo in another; controls were tested twice without medication.

Main Results:

  • Behavioral data showed MPH normalized WM performance in ADHD patients without distractors but did not improve performance when distractors were present.
  • fMRI data revealed MPH enhanced prefrontal activity during WM maintenance in ADHD patients without distractors.
  • Healthy controls showed caudate activation during distractor trials, indicating interference control, whereas ADHD patients did not show this enhancement with MPH.

Conclusions:

  • Methylphenidate (MPH) effectively improves general working memory (WM) in ADHD but does not enhance the ability to control for distractors.
  • The caudate nucleus plays a role in interference control during WM, a function not adequately improved by MPH in ADHD.
  • Findings suggest that MPH's therapeutic effects in ADHD may not extend to improving interference control mechanisms mediated by the caudate.