Trial reportJAMA psychiatry2016
Age-Dependent Effects of Methylphenidate on the Human Dopaminergic System in Young vs Adult Patients With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Trial report in JAMA psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of amphetamines on blood pressure.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Methylphenidate for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Extended-release methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Immediate-release methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Pharmacologic treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- ADHD is associated with migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- Methylphenidate Effects on Cortical Thickness in Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2020Trial
- Utility of Imaging-Based Biomarkers for Glutamate-Targeted Drug Development in Psychotic Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA psychiatry · 2018Trial
- Increased default-mode variability is related to reduced task-performance and is evident in adults with ADHD.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2017Trial
- Pharmacological MRI: Utility in Understanding Drug Mechanisms in Psychiatric Disorders.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2026Review
- The effects of omega-3 fatty acids on Wnt activity in iPSC-derived neural stem cells from adult ADHD patients.Neuroscience applied · 2026Article
- Air pollution in relation to brain health indicators and global cognitive functioning in people with cardiovascular disorders along the heart-brain axis.Cerebral circulation - cognition and behavior · 2026Article
- The potential of neuromelanin-sensitive MRI in psychiatric disorders.Neuroscience applied · 2026Review
- Observational
- Current insights into the safety and adverse effects of methylphenidate in children, adolescents, and adults - narrative review.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Effects of 4-Month Methylphenidate Treatment on Functional Connectivity in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Retinal fundus imaging as biomarker for ADHD using machine learning for screening and visual attention stratification.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- A novel multimodal pharmacologic approach using guanfacine, N-acetylcysteine, and donepezil in severe TBI: a case series.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Article
- The effect of aerobic exercise on cerebral perfusion in patients with vascular cognitive impairment, the Excersion-VCI randomised controlled clinical trial.Cerebral circulation - cognition and behavior · 2025Article
- Neural and Cognitive Predictors of Stimulant Treatment Efficacy in Medication-Naïve ADHD Adults: A Pilot Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.Journal of attention disorders · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
importanceAlthough numerous children receive methylphenidate hydrochloride for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little is known about age-dependent and possibly lasting effects of methylphenidate on the human dopaminergic system.
objectivesTo determine whether the effects of methylphenidate on the dopaminergic system are modified by age and to test the hypothesis that methylphenidate treatment of young but not adult patients with ADHD induces lasting effects on the cerebral blood flow response to dopamine challenge, a noninvasive probe for dopamine function. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
participantsA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Effects of Psychotropic Drugs on Developing Brain-Methylphenidate) among ADHD referral centers in the greater Amsterdam area in the Netherlands between June 1, 2011, and June 15, 2015. Additional inclusion criteria were male sex, age 10 to 12 years or 23 to 40 years, and stimulant treatment-naive status.
interventionsTreatment with either methylphenidate or a matched placebo for 16 weeks. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Change in the cerebral blood flow response to an acute challenge with methylphenidate, noninvasively assessed using pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging, between baseline and 1 week after treatment. Data were analyzed using intent-to-treat analyses.
resultsAmong 131 individuals screened for eligibility, 99 patients met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD, and 50 participants were randomized to receive methylphenidate and 49 to placebo. Sixteen weeks of methylphenidate treatment increased the cerebral blood flow response to methylphenidate within the thalamus (mean difference, 6.5; 95% CI, 0.4-12.6; P = .04) of children aged 10 to 12 years old but not in adults or in the placebo group. In the striatum, the methylphenidate condition differed significantly from placebo in children but not in adults (mean difference, 7.7; 95% CI, 0.7-14.8; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: We confirm preclinical data and demonstrate age-dependent effects of methylphenidate treatment on human extracellular dopamine striatal-thalamic circuitry. Given its societal relevance, these data warrant replication in larger groups with longer follow-up.
trial registrationidentifier: NL34509.000.10 and trialregister.nl identifier: NTR3103.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.