Effects of Methylphenidate on Selective and Sustained Attention in Hyperactive, Reading-disabled, and Presumably Attention-disordered Boys

Abstract

Performance on a visual search task was contrasted for hyperactive boys and nonhyperactive reading-disabled and presumably attention-disordered boys participating in a double blind, crossover study (methylphenidate vs. placebo). Mean dosage levels, individually titrated by the team psychiatrist, were highest for the reading-disabled group, lowest for those with suspected attention disorders. All 3 groups were seen by teachers and parents as significantly improved while on medication and all groups dramatically reduced extraneous responses and attention lapses on the laboratory task. On a composite measure of performance and behavior, the nonhyperactive subjects improved significantly more than the hyperactive subjects. Although given rather high average dosage levels (.apprx. 37.5 mg/day or 1.25 mg/kg per day), the subjects did not deteriorate in search behavior, which entails short term memory. The cerebral stimulants may be as beneficial for nonhyperactive reading-disabled and attention-disordered children as for hyperactive patients, for the former have just as great difficulty sustaining attention as the latter.