Methylphenidate Effects on Prefrontal Functioning During Attentional-Capture and Response Inhibition
Biological Psychiatry, 05/11/2012
Clinical Article
Pauls AM et al. – The findings suggest that the improvement of response inhibition seen following methylphenidate administration is due to its influence on underlying attentional mechanisms linked to response control requirements.
Methods- The effects of methylphenidate (40 mg) were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 16 healthy volunteers in a within-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled design.
- Methylphenidate significantly reduced activation of different regions within the right inferior frontal gyrus/insula to infrequent stimuli associated with successful inhibition, failed inhibition, and attentional capture.
- These inferior frontal gyrus regions showed different interregional connections with inhibitory and attention networks.
- For failed inhibitions, methylphenidate increased activation within performance-monitoring regions, including the superior frontal, anterior cingulate, and parietal-occipital cortices, but only after controlling for attentional capture.
