Methylphenidate enhances acquisition and retention of spatial memory

Psychostimulants containing methylphenidate (MPH) are increasingly being used both on and off-label to enhance learning and memory. Still, almost no studies have investigated MPH's ability to specifically improve spatial or long-term memory. Here we examined the effect of training with 1 or 10 mg/kg MPH on hidden platform learning in the Morris water maze. 10 mg/kg MPH improved memory acquisition and retention, while 1 mg/kg MPH improved memory retention. Taken together with prior evidence that low, clinically relevant, doses of MPH (0.01-1 mg/kg MPH) enhance fear memory we conclude that MPH broadly enhances memory.