Subchronic methylphenidate administration has no effect on locomotion, emotional behavior, or water maze learning in prepubertal mice

Methylphenidate hydrochloride (Ritalin, MPH) is frequently prescribed as a treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet little research has been conducted to determine its potential long‐term neurobehavioral effects. We assessed the effects of subchronic MPH administration (2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40, or 80 mg/kg) on male CD‐1 mice treated from 26 to 32 days of age. When tested at 33 days of age in the open field and elevated plus maze, there were no significant differences in spontaneous locomotion, exploration, or fear‐ and anxiety‐related behaviors. Testing from 34 to 37 days of age in a water maze task revealed no significant effects of any dose of MPH on learning in this simple paradigm. While it is difficult to extrapolate directly from these results to clinical effects in humans, our results indicate that preexposure of mice to MPH late in the postnatal developmental period does not appear to alter later behavior. We are currently conducting additional studies to further probe the potential effects of MPH administration during development and to examine various contributing factors including stage of development, duration of MPH administration, complexity of the task used to assess behavioral changes, and type of cognitive process being analyzed (attention, nonspatial working memory, etc.). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 41: 123–132, 2002. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/dev.10059