Childhood methylphenidate treatment of ADHD and response to affective stimuli

Neural correlates of emotional dysregulation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and persisting influence of Methylphenidate (MPH) still remain insufficiently understood. Decreased activation in the subgenual cingulate and the ventral striatum were found during the perception of positive and negative affective pictures in drug-naïve males with ADHD during childhood (n = 10). Males with ADHD during childhood treated with MPH (n = 10) did not show any significant differences compared to healthy controls (n = 10). Further prospective studies need to clarify direct and indirect mechanisms of MPH treatment that may contribute to emotional processing, which is dysfunctional in males without pharmacological treatment in childhood.