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Methods of Research for the Effects of Ritalin on the Brain
It seems wise to investigate the effects of Ritalin on the brain so this article will analyze three methods of research into these effects. The most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioural childhood disorder is Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Chronic treatment with psychostimulants like methylphenidate (MPH, Ritalin®) is often the result of the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Although the ADHD symptoms of impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention are effectively reduced with MPH the diagnosis methods may be lacking (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Unfortunately, there may be an inappropriate exposure of children to continual psychostimulant treatment during development due to increased misdiagnosis of ADHD (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Long-term effects on brain development may result from inappropriately prescribed drug treatment throughout childhood and adolescence (Pardey, et.al., 2012). This article seeks to demonstrate the dire need for improved methods of assessment for ADHD. The articles “Non-specific effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on cognitive ability and decision-making of ADHD and healthy adults”, “Long-Term Effects of Chronic Oral Ritalin Administration on Cognitive and Neural Development in Adolescent Wistar Kyoto Rats”, and “Methylphenidate and cocaine self-administration produce distinct dopamine terminal alterations” will be discussed in this piece. Next the first research article will be analyzed.
Article Analysis for Non-specific Effects of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) on Cognitiveability
and Decision-making of ADHD and Healthy Adults
The first article deals with Ritalin effects on the brain. The article “Non-specific effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on cognitive ability and decision-making of ADHD and healthy adults” looks at the effect of one dose of methylphenidate (MPH) on decision-making processes and cognitive measures in adults (Agay, et.al., 2010). This article may shed some light on the effectiveness of MPH. The research method will be discussed next.
Research Method
Decision making processes and cognitive measures were determined in a control sample as well as a sample of adults with ADHD to gage whether or not cognitive enhancement by MPH induction is specific to ADHD (Agay, et.al., 2010). Healthy adults and ADHD adults were compared in a randomly controlled trial with the following: digit-span tasks assessed executive function, progressive matrices to assess non-verbal intelligence, the TOVA test, and two gambling tasks that assess decision-making ability (Agay, et.al., 2010). These tests are used to accurately measure the research findings in a workable manner. Next the key variables will be discussed.
Key Variables
Two ANOVAs were conducted for the variables of ADHD and non-ADHD groups who did not differ significantly in years of education, age, and gender (Agay, et.al., 2010). One half received a placebo while the other received MPH as the independent variables for this research (Agay, et.al., 2010). With the participants evenly divided the research began. Support of the hypothesis will be analyzed next.
Description of How the Hypothesis was, or was not Supported
The alternative hypothesis does not seem to be supported in this study. “Our results are surprising in two aspects” subjects who received MPH with or without ADHD did better in the working-memory (WM) task while the ADHD group did not present impairment in the domain in comparison to the controls (Agay, et.al., 2010, p.7). MPH did not affect risk taking in both groups with the ADHD group scoring higher on risk taking (Agay, et.al., 2010). The study determined that “the cognitive-enhancing features of MPH are (1) not specific to ADHD and (2) do not apply to executive functions in general but specifically to WM performance…MPH did not cause a significant improvement in the sustained attention task” (Agay, et.al., 2010. P.7). With the results determined ethical considerations of the study will be discussed next.
Determination and Explanation of Safe and Ethical Study
The ethical considerations for this study seem legitimate. The national and local IRB approved this study (Agay, et.al., 2010). An informed consent form was signed by all of the participants after they were briefed (Agay, et.al., 2010). All of the participants were carefully screened before the study, and a senior psychiatrist or clinical expert carefully screened all of the participants (Agay, et.al., 2010). Now that the first study has been analyzed it is time to review the second study.
Article Analysis for “Long-Term Effects of Chronic Oral Ritalin Administration on Cognitive and Neural Development in Adolescent Wistar Kyoto Rats”
This study is performed on animals. The human nervous system experiences myelination and synaptogenesis throughout puberty, with continuous remodelling of neural circuitry or synaptic plasticity into adulthood (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Since rat brains are similar the time it takes for the MPH affects may be measured in rats (Pardey, et.al., 2012). This study seeks to assess the effect of chronic Ritalin treatment on neural and cognitive development in misdiagnosed “normal” (Wistar Kyoto, WKY) rats as well as in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR), an ADHD model (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Now that the test is summarized the research method will be discussed next.
Research Method
The effect of continuous treatment on tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity (TH-ir) and delayed reinforcement tasks (DRT) in the prefrontal cortex of male adolescent rats who were treated for four weeks with distilled water (dH2O) or with oral Ritalin® (2 × 2 mg/kg/day) were assessed in this study (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Experiment 1 featured the behavioural effect of acute oral MPH administration on dose-response curves for locomotor activity in the rats (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Experiment 2 featured cognitive-behavioural tasks and locomotor activity in chronic treatment of MPH or distilled water for four weeks (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Experiment 3 involves measuring the levels of the levels of TH-ir in the PFC at various times like 1 and 12 weeks post chronic drug treatment, long-term and short-term groups, and after cognitive testing so that possible changes to catecholamine function can be assessed (Pardey, et.al., 2012). The research method requires comprehension of the key variables to be processed. Next key variables will be discussed.
Key Variables
Forty-five “normal” male (Wistar Kyoto, WKY) rats as well as forty male Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) are the control and experimental animals in this study (Pardey, et.al., 2012). The rats were treated for four weeks with either distilled water or oral Ritalin which would be the independent variable because it is manipulated by the researcher (Pardey, et.al., 2012). The differences in the variables allow the researchers to make comparisons. The hypothesis will be discussed next.
Description of How the Hypothesis was, or was not Supported
The hypothesis was that the SHR locomotor activity would be suppressed by treatment with MPH (Pardey, et.al., 2012). The WKY’s locomotor results were not expected entirely with respect to chronic MPH treatment (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Altered cognitive performance by WKY rats who experienced chronic treatment was noted in adulthood (Pardey, et.al., 2012). Continuous MPH treatment did not affect catecholamine neural development or cognition at adulthood in the adolescent SHRs (Pardey, et.al., 2012). ’Cocaine is a psychostimulant with a similar mechanism of action to MPH” (Pardey, et.al., 2012, para.41). The findings indicate that rats who are hyper are not negatively affected by Ritalin while those who are normal are negatively affected. Next the ethical considerations of the study will be analyzed.
Determination and Explanation of Safe and Ethical Study
It was reported that all ethical considerations were honored for the treatment of the animals. “The study was conducted with the approval of the Macquarie University Animal Ethics Committee (reference number ARA 2006/019) and followed the Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes” (Pardey, et.al., 2012, para.49). The researchers also followed the regulations of the school board (Pardey, et.al., 2012). The third article analysis will be performed next.
Article Analysis for “Methylphenidate and Cocaine Self-administration
Produce Distinct Dopamine Terminal Alterations”
Methylphenidate (MPH) is a commonly abused commonly psychostimulant that has an action mechanism similar to cocaine (COC) and is characterized as a
dopamine transporter (DAT) blocker (Calipari, et.al., 2014). This study looks at the effects of the self-administration of Ritalin on the DA system (Calipari, et.al., 2014). The test were administered on rats. Next the research method will be discussed.
Research Method
The research method for this study seems barbaric but it revealed some vital information. The animals were given MPH in an automatic IV that they could control until the time of sacrifice 24 hours after the last session commenced (Calipari, et.al., 2014). 400-m thick coronal brain sections were dissected with the nucleus accumbens core using a vibrating tissue slicer to be viewed and compared (Calipari, et.al., 2014). A Graph Pad Prism was used to statistically analyze data sets as well as create graphs, and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on MPH with experimental group and concentration of COC or MPH as the factors (Calipari, et.al., 2014). The key variables will be discussed next.
Key Variables
The key variables in the study are that the rats were given cocaine or MPH (Calipari, et.al., 2014). Unfortunately, my notes were deleted
:/ too late. The hypothesis is unavailable. Next the ethics of the study will be examined.Determination and Explanation of Safe and Ethical Study
The researchers claim that they upheld all ethical considerations for the animals. The animals were maintained according to the guidelines of the National Institute of Health guidelines in Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (Calipari, et.al., 2014). The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Wake Forest School of Medicine approved the animal protocol (Calipari, et.al., 2014). The animals were anesthetized with 100 mg/kg ketamine as well as implanted with catheters (Calipari, et.al., 2014). It seems like the study was handles as ethically as possible to gain the vital information. The articles will be concluded next.
Summary and Conclusion
The articles “Non-specific effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on cognitive ability and decision-making of ADHD and healthy adults”, “Long-Term Effects of Chronic Oral Ritalin Administration on Cognitive and Neural Development in Adolescent Wistar Kyoto Rats”, and “Methylphenidate and cocaine self-administration produce distinct dopamine terminal alterations” have been summarized in this piece. All three studies followed the required steps to be as ethical as possible. Even though animal studies can provide information human studies seem to be the most vital for understanding the effects of MPH on the brain. There are a battery of test and brain scans that can be performed on the countless adults who have experienced taking unneeded Ritalin.
References
Agay, N., Yechiam, E., Carmel, Z., & Levkovitz, Y. (2010). Non-specific effects of
methylphenidate (ritalin) on cognitive ability and decision-making of ADHD and healthy adults. Psychopharmacology, 210(4), 511-9. doi:http://
Calipari, E. S., Ferris, M. J., Melchior, J. R., Bermejo, K., Salahpour, A., Roberts, D. S., & Jones, S. R. (2014). Methylphenidate and cocaine self-administration produce distinct
dopamine terminal alterations. Addiction Biology, 19(2), 145-155. doi:10.1111/
Pardey, M. C., Kumar, N. N., Goodchild, A. K., Clemens, K. J., Homewood, J., & Cornish, J. L.(2012). Long-Term Effects of Chronic Oral Ritalin Administration on Cognitive and Neural Development in Adolescent Wistar Kyoto Rats. Brain Sciences, 2(3), 375–404.http://
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