Methylphenidate enhances neural stem cell differentiation.

The psychostimulant methylphenidate (MPH) is the first choice of drug treatment in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Since therapy often begins at a time when the brain is still developing and the long-term consequences of MPH are still not fully clarified, we examined the influences of an acute treatment with MPH on the differentiation and proliferation of murine neural stem cells (mNSC). We found that MPH enhanced neuronal differentiation and inhibited neural proliferation.