Ritalin as a causal perturbation

Catrina M Hacker; Nicole C Rust

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.002

Ritalin as a causal perturbation

Trends Cogn Sci. 2022 Jul;26(7):542-543. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.002. Epub 2022 Apr 29.

Authors

Catrina M Hacker¹, Nicole C Rust²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 35501247
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.002

Abstract

Causal perturbations provide the strongest tests of the relationships between brain mechanism and brain function. In cognitive neuroscience, persuasive causal perturbations are difficult to achieve. In a recent paper, Ni et al. cleverly use the neuropsychiatric drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) to causally test the brain mechanisms that support goal-directed attention.

Keywords: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Ritalin; attention; causality; methylphenidate.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Comment

MeSH terms

Attention
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity*
Brain
Humans
Methylphenidate* / pharmacology

Substances

Methylphenidate

Grants and funding

R01 EY032878/EY/NEI NIH HHS/United States