Methylphenidate May Lead to Improvements in Youth With Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Study Suggests

Methylphenidate (MPH) may be a potential treatment option for youth with disruptive behavior disorder, suggests astudy published in theJournal of the American Academy of Child& Adolescent Psychiatry.Research has shown that youth with disruptive behavior disorder are less likely than others to anticipate the negative consequences of their behaviors, which may contribute to behavioral problems. Studies also show that people with disruptive behavior disorder tend to have lower activity in the amygdala —a brain region known to be involved in emotional learning, including fear response.Koen Van Lith, M.D., of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and colleagues tested whether MPH might increase amygdala activity in youth with disruptive behavior disorder, including oppositional defiant and/or conduct disorder. The researchers chose MPH since this medication is known to increase amygdala activity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Van Lith and colleagues conducted a clinical study of 42 boys aged 14 to 17 who were diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder. The adolescents completed a fear-learning task (learning to associate a visual stimulus with a mild electric shock) 90 minutes after taking either a single dose of MPH (0.3 mg/kg to 0.4 mg/kg) or placebo. Twenty-one adolescents with no behavioral problems were also included as a comparison group; these participants were given no medication before testing. All the participants underwent functional MRI sca...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: amygdala antisocial behavior child and adolescent psychiatry conduct disorder disruptive behavior fear conditioning methylphenidate oppositional defiant disorder Source Type: research