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Multimodal Brain Imaging of Methylphenidate in Children and Adolescents With ADHD

Phase 4
Withdrawn
Conditions
ADHD
Interventions
Registration Number
NCT06077669
Lead Sponsor
Johns Hopkins University
Brief Summary

The goal of this proposal is to develop brain imaging tools to measure the effects of methylphenidate in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methylphenidate is an FDA-approved treatment for ADHD. Specifically, the investigators will correlate brain activity during cognitive tasks and brain chemistry with cognitive performance. These measures could help the investigators understand how current ADHD medications work and then could be used to develop novel drugs to treat ADHD in children and adolescents.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
WITHDRAWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
Not specified
Inclusion Criteria
  • Age 6 to 18 years
  • Diagnosis of ADHD
  • A score of at least 3 (mildly ill) on the clinician administered Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Currently taking stimulant medications (within one week of first study visit). Patients will not be asked to discontinue any treatments for the purpose of this research study. Subjects will include treatment naïve patients and patients who were previously treated with stimulant medications, but are not currently treated, and meet study criteria.
  • Having an adverse reaction to methylphenidate, or other stimulant medication
  • Current psychiatric disorder, including bipolar I or II disorder, major depressive, disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, Tourette syndrome, or history of psychosis
  • Patient is at risk for clinically significant deterioration due to study protocol, as assessed by primary medical investigator (Dr. Grant)
  • Confirmed genetic disorder with cognitive and/or behavioral disturbances
  • Active, unstable medical illness that may interfere with cognition or compromises safety of the patient
  • History of head trauma with loss of consciousness or any evidence of functional impairment due to, and persisting after, head trauma
  • Neurological disorder, mental retardation, intellectual or disability, or other non-ADHD cause of cognitive impairment
  • Pregnant or breast-feeding women
  • Having a contraindication to MRI, including a pacemaker, defibrillator or other medical implant, other metal objects, or claustrophobia, or for having braces or other metal in the head region (likely to create an artifact on the MRI scans).
  • Currently smoking or using controlled or illicit substances, including alcohol.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Methylphenidate - low doseMethylphenidate5 mg of methylphenidate
Methylphenidate - high doseMethylphenidate10 mg of methylphenidate
PlaceboPlaceboplacebo
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Glutamate level in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortexApproximately 2 hours after dose

Glutamate level (measured by MRS, institutional units) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

BOLD signal during response inhibitionApproximately 90 minutes after dose

Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal (brain activity during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), arbitrary units) in the anterior cingulate cortex during response inhibition.

BOLD signal during working memoryApproximately 90 minutes after dose

BOLD signal (brain activity during fMRI, arbitrary units) in the frontal cortex during working memory

Glutamate level in the anterior cingulate cortexApproximately 2 hours after dose

Glutamate level (measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), institutional units) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Cognitive performance as assessed by the Flanker performance taskApproximately 3 hours after dose

NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery Flanker task, score range 0 to 20, higher score is better performance

Working memory performanceApproximately 3 hours after dose

NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery working memory task (list sorting), score range 0 to 26, higher score is better performance

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
NIH Toolbox Cognitive BatteryApproximately 3 hours after dose

Cognition Fluid Composite, Cognition Crystallized Composite, Cognition Total Composite Score, and other individual test scores

Methylphenidate plasma levelsApproximately 90 min and 150 min after dose

Methylphenidate plasma levels will be drawn before and after brain imaging on each visit

ADHD as assessed by the Connors 3At each study visit, approximately 3 hours after dose

Connors 3rd edition ADHD assessment, lower score means less symptoms, typical scores are 40 to 59, above 65 is an elevated score (meaning more concerns than are typically reported)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

🇺🇸

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

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