Article
Methylphenidate and verbal processing with emotional content in young females with attention deficit disorder [Metilfenidato y procesamiento verbal emocional en jóvenes adultas con trastorno por déficit de atención]
Fecha
2009Autor
Gonzalez-Garrido, A.A.
De La Serna Tuya, J.M.
Barrios, F.A.
Gomez-Velazquez, F.R.
Ramos-Loyo, J.
Cocula Leon, H.
Institución
Resumen
Introduction: Female adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically have emotional processing disturbances, but our knowledge on the efficacy of regular pharmacological treatments on this issue is insufficient. Objective: To evaluate the effects of methylphenidate (MFD) on behavioral measures and subjacent functional cerebral changes in female ADHD patients while performing a short-term memory task with emotionally relevant words as stimuli. Method: Eight universitary, right-handed women with diagnosis of ADHD -inattentive subtype-, performed twice a verbal auditory task using positive or negative emotionally relevant words -without, and 90 minutes post-intake of 0.4 mg/kg of MFD- in a counterbalanced order. The BOLD-fMRI response was used as a measure of neural activity during task performance. Results: The MFD administration significantly improved behavioral performances for both positive and negative stimuli, determining an increase of functional activity in frontal, temporal and parietal areas of both hemispheres, with slight differences according to the emotional nature of the stimuli. Conclusions: MFD intake induces higher and widespread cerebral functional activation in ADHD female adult patients, and improves behavioral performances in a short-term memory verbal task based on emotionally relevant words, probably as effect of higher functional efficiency in neural networks which involve frontal substrates.