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SFN: Nicotine as Good as Ritalin on Core Measure of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 

Nicotine serves as well as the commonly prescribed drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) on measures of motor inhibition taken in teens with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Investigators of a small study presented here November 8th at the Society for Neuroscience 33rd Annual Meeting, used the finding to suggest that smoking in people with ADHD is an attempt at self-medication.

Alexandra Potter, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, University of Vermont, Burlington, United States, noted that kids with ADHD take up smoking and become hooked at twice the rate of other adolescents. "If these findings are substantiated," Dr. Potter said, "these cognitive improvements may explain the high rates of smoking initiation and maintenance in ADHD." . . .

[Study Title: Acute nicotine administration improves behavioral inhibition in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Abstract 18.9]

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