William Atkins
Wednesday, 18 February 2009 19:54
Science -
Biology
Page 3 of 4
Technically stated:
“Chronic methylphenidate increased the density of dendritic spines in MSN-D1 (MSN-expressing dopamine D1 receptors) from the core and shell of nucleus accumbens (NAcc) as well as MSN-D2 (MSN-expressing dopamine D2 receptors) from the shell of NAcc.”
“In contrast, cocaine increased the density of spines in both populations of MSN from all regions of striatum.”
“In general, the effect of methylphenidate on the increase of shorter spines (class 2) was less than that of cocaine.”
“Interestingly, the methylphenidate-induced increase in the density of relatively longer spines (class 3) in the shell of NAcc was bigger than that induced by cocaine.”
“Furthermore, methylphenidate exposure increased expression of ΔFosB [delta Fos B]
only in MSN-D1 from all areas of striatum, and surprisingly, the increase was greater than that induced by cocaine.”
They concluded,
“Thus, our results show differential effects of methylphenidate and cocaine on neuronal adaptation in specific types of MSN in reward-related brain regions.”
Thus, methylphenidate (MPH, Ritalin) was found to have similar neurological changes to the brain when compared to cocaine, but those changes were distinct between MPH and cocaine.
However, both chances are associated with the increased risk to drug addiction.
Page four concludes.
