Eunbin Lee - Psychopharmacology

 Throughout the past seventy years, scientists have worked with psychostimulant medications to help patients with ADHD, also known as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. ADHD affects peoples’ lives all around the globe. Its symptoms include hyperactivity, impulsivity, and issues with attention. Through a multitude of scientific research on the causes and effects of ADHD, researchers have found a solution to aiding those who struggle with daily functioning due to ADHD. Psychostimulant medications have been known to alleviate symptoms of ADHD and improve attention by increasing dopamine levels and norepinephrine in the brain. Once these neurotransmitters are boosted, the psychostimulants work to increase a patient’s ability to concentrate. However, neuroimaging has recently allowed scientists to discover how long-term psychostimulant treatment affects the brain structure of adults with ADHD. Specifically, scientists used brain MRI scans from 26 adults, with 13 who had been treated with psychostimulants and 13 who had never been treated with such medications. Through the MRI scans, experts found that those who had taken stimulants such as methylphenidate or amphetamines showed increased brain surface complexity. Increased brain surface complexity enhances the gyri and sulci (folds and grooves) on the surface of the brain, allowing the brain to house more neurons and have overall increased cognitive function. Adding on, increased complexity can lead to better information processing and adaptation to challenges. On the other hand, those who had never taken the medication had a thicker cortex in some areas of their brain. Regardless of the different structures of each medicated and unmedicated brain, the severity of ADHD symptoms remained similar, and no differences were found in total gray matter volume based on a voxel-based analysis.