Alternative Mental Health News- Article: Ritalin May Have Long-Term Effects on Growing Brains

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Ritalin May Have Long-Term Effects on Growing Brainsindex

Early use of Ritalin and other stimulant drugs seems to permanently alter

animals' brains, according to a study published in the Dec. 15 issue of

Biological Psychiatry. That raises concerns that the same thing might be

happening in children who take these drugs for " ADHD. "

The findings come from a research team led by William A. Carlezon Jr., PhD,

director of the behavioral genetics laboratory at McLean Hospital and associate

professor at Harvard Medical School.

" Rats exposed to Ritalin as juveniles showed large increases in

learned-helplessness behavior during adulthood, suggesting a tendency toward

depression, " Carlezon says in a news release. " These rats also showed abnormally

high levels of activity in familiar environments. [This] might reflect basic

alterations in the way rats pay attention to their surroundings. "

The learned-helplessness is a lessened ability to deal with stressful

situations.

Ritalin and cocaine have different effects on humans. But their effects on the

brain are very similar. When given to " preteen " rats, both drugs cause long-term

changes in behavior.

One of the changes seems good. Early exposure to Ritalin makes rats less

responsive to the rewarding effects of cocaine. But that could mean that the

drug short-circuits the brain's reward system. That would make it difficult to

experience pleasure -- a " hallmark symptom of depression, " wrote Carlezon et al.

Early exposure to Ritalin increases rats' depressive-like responses in a stress

test.

" These experiments suggest that preadolescent exposure to [Ritalin] in rats

causes numerous complex behavioral adaptations, each of which endures into

adulthood. "

Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health,

commented:

" These studies remind us how limited our knowledge is of the neurochemical and

functional characteristics of the human brain during childhood and adolescence

and on the effects of psychotropic drugs on brain development. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

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