Cognitive and neural effects of methylphenidate in children with ADHD

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  The cognitive and neural effects of methylphenidate in children with ADHD

• IRAS ID

  188375

• Contact name

  Duncan Astle

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 3 days

• Research summary

  Working memory is an ability of key importance for learning. Deficits in working memory are associated with reduced academic attainment, and a key question therefore concerns why some children have better or poorer working memory capacities. A developmental disorder characterised by working memory difficulties is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The standard treatment for ADHD is a medication called methylphenidate. Whilst extant studies indicate that methylphenidate can improve working memory and increase activation in prefrontal cortical circuits, very little is known about the way in which methylphenidate affects any relationship between working memory capacity and the brain’s functional connectivity. The aim of this project is to investigate how methylphenidate influences working memory in children with ADHD, and how working memory changes relate to changes in the functional networks supporting working memory performance. Children with ADHD who are prescribed methylphenidate medication will attend two sessions at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, in which we will i) do a one-hour MEG scan, involving rest and a working memory task, ii) a series of working memory assessments outside the scanner, and iii) ask the parent/guardian to complete questionnaires regarding the child’s cognitive abilities and behaviours. In one of the sessions children will have taken their methylphenidate medication as normal prior to the session. In the other session children will have postponed taking their medication until after the session. This provides us with an opportunity to assess the influence of methylphenidate medication within the same sample of children, and explore how changes in working memory as a result of medication use relate to both baseline individual differences in functional connectivity, and changes in these networks resulting from medication. This project therefore aims to understand the influence of methylphenidate on working memory, and functional connectivity networks supporting working memory in children with ADHD.

• REC name

  East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/EE/0373

• Date of REC Opinion

  30 Dec 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion