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Improvement of facial affect recognition in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder under methylphenidate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2013

Sophie Beyer von Morgenstern ,
Ingrid Becker  and
Judith Sinzig
Sophie Beyer von Morgenstern*
Affiliation:
Department for Paediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital Dritter Orden, Munich, Germany
Ingrid Becker
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Epidemiology, University of Cologne, Germany
Judith Sinzig
Affiliation:
Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LVR Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
*
S Beyer von. Morgenstern, Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Munich, Germany. Tel: +49-163-2611986; E-mail: sophiemorgenstern@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Introduction and Hypothesis

Some authors draw a connection between the dopaminergic pathways and emotional perception. The present study is based on that association and addresses the question whether methylphenidate and the resulting amelioration of the disturbed dopamine metabolism lead to an improvement of the facial affect recognition abilities in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods

A computer test was conducted on 21 participants, aged 7–14 years and with a diagnosis of ADHD – some with comorbid oppositional defiant disorder – conducted the FEFA (Frankfurt Test and Training of Facial Affect), a computer test to examine their facial affect recognition abilities. It consists of two subtests, one with faces and one with eye pairs. All participants were tested in a double-blind cross-over study, once under placebo and once under methylphenidate.

Results and Discussion

The collected data showed that methylphenidate leads to amelioration of facial affect recognition abilities, but not on a significant level. Reasons for missing significance may be the small sample size or the fact that there exists some overlapping in cerebral connections and metabolic pathways of the site of action of methylphenidate and the affected dopaminergic areas in ADHD. However, consistent with the endophenotype concept, certain gene locations of the dopaminergic metabolism as both an aetiological factor for ADHD and the deficient facial affect recognition abilities with these individuals were considered. Consulting current literature they were found to be not concordant. Therefore, we conclude that the lacking significance of the methylphenidate affect on facial affect recognition is based on this fact.

Keywords

ADHDaffect recognitionfacial affect recognitionmethylphenidate
Type
Original Articles
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 202 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2013 

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