Neuropsychological correlates of methylphenidate treatment in adult ADHD with and without depression

The purpose of this study was to characterize the neuropsychological profil es of adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) a lone and ADHD with active comorbid depression, and to evaluate changes in t he neuropsychological profile in these two groups following a trial of meth ylphenidate. Forty patients with ADHD were classified into two groups based on their affective statics resulting in a group of 21 patients with ADHD a lone and 19 patients with ADHD and active comorbid symptoms of depression ( ADHD-D). Ail subjects received a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluatio n including measures of cognitive, motor and affective functioning before a nd after treatment. Fifteen normal controls were also assessed at a yoked l ime interval. At baseline, both patient groups showed impairment in verbal memory, motor and processing speed, visual scanning, and auditory and visua l distractibility. Following treatment, both patient groups showed improvem ent across ail neuropsychological measures while controls remained relative ly stable over time. Improvement in neuropsychological test performance was not related to gender, affective status or referral source. Patients with active comorbid symptoms of depression show a similar neuropsychological pr ofile and appear equally likely to benefit from methylphenidate interventio n as patients with ADHD alone. (C) 1999 National Academy of Neuropsychophar macology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.