The present study aims to examine whether memory improvement, caused by Ritalin (MPH) intake, has a positive effect on exam performance.
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Other condition
Synonym
Health condition
geen aandoening
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
The main study parameters are measures of exam performance. In our case, this
means the number of correct responses to the factual exam questions (i.e.,
memory) as well as the questions related to understanding.
Secondary outcome
We will use a series of well-established memory paradigms to evaluate the level
of cognitive enhancement. We will additionally test the effect of enhanced
cognition on inducing a liberal response criterion. Therefore, in addition to
the other paradigms used, we will include measures to assess false memory
formation, and check whether MHP contributes to formation of such memories. The
study parameters for the secondary objectives are behavioral data from the
(false) memory paradigms. Additionally, we will include a working memory
capacity task and survey questions measuring mood and alertness to exclude
possible confounding effects of these factors.
Background summary
The worldwide prevalence of pharmacological cognitive doping among university
students ranges between 1.3-33% depending on the country. In the Maastricht
University newspaper, it was reported that a quarter of all students have at
least once used *smart drugs*, like Ritalin (MPH). Despite the fact that many
students believe that these psychostimulants will improve their study results,
there is no experimental evidence in support of this. Several publications have
shown cognition enhancement under controlled experimental conditions. These
studies typically found working and declarative memory improvement in healthy
adults after drug intake. However, it is yet unknown if the magnitude of these
experimental effects is large enough to be translated into *real-world*
advantages such as in learning for and performing on an exam. More
specifically, it remains unclear whether improved performance on memory and an
exam are related to encoding (acquiring new information) or retrieval
(recollecting information).
Study objective
The present study aims to examine whether memory improvement, caused by Ritalin
(MPH) intake, has a positive effect on exam performance.
Study design
The experiment will utilize a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled
between-subjects design.
Intervention
Given the between-subjects design, subjects will either receive placebo or 20
mg methylphenidate. The medication will be administered orally. The
participants will be asked to perform various tests related to cognitive
performance and an exam probing factual knowledge vs. insight.
Study burden and risks
The time investment for the participants will be around 380 min, which is
comprised of 1) filling in a medical questionnaire (30 min), 2) training of 30
min and 3) two test sessions each of around 160 min. The day before their test
day, the participants are not allowed to drink any alcohol. On the test day,
participants are not allowed to smoke or drink caffeinated drinks. Furthermore,
they are asked to refrain from using drugs throughout the study.
Universiteitssingel 40
Maastricht 6229ER
NL
Universiteitssingel 40
Maastricht 6229ER
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
• In the opinion of the investigator, the participant is capable of
understanding and complying with protocol requirements.
• The participant has a body mass index of 18.5-30 kg/m2, inclusive, at the
medical screening.
• The participant is aged 18 to 35 years, inclusive, at the time of informed
consent.
• The volunteer is healthy, i.e. absence of all exclusion criteria and had
normal or corrected to normal static binocular acuity with or without
correction.
• The participant signs and dates a written informed consent form before the
start of the experiment.
• The participant has sufficient English language skills to read and understand
all instructions and perform the tasks in this study
Exclusion criteria
• The volunteer has an uncontrolled, clinically significant neurologic,
cardiovascular, pulmonary, hepatic, renal, metabolic, gastrointestinal, or
endocrine disease or other ab-normality, which may impact the ability of the
subject to participate or potentially confound the study results.
• The volunteer has existing major psychiatric symptoms.
• The participant has known hypersensitivity to any component of the
formulation or methylphenidate or related compounds.
• The participant has a history of drug abuse (defined as any illicit drug use)
or a history of alcohol abuse within 1 year prior to the first visit or is
unwilling to agree to abstain from alcohol from 24 hours prior to each test day
and/or drugs throughout the study.
• The participant has been diagnosed with ADHD.
• The participant has any sensory or motor deficits, which could reasonably be
expected to affect test performance.
• Other exclusion criteria are excessive drinking (>20 glasses of
alcohol-containing beverages a week), pregnancy or lactation, use of medication
other than oral contraceptives, use of recreational drugs from 2 weeks before
until the end of the experiment, any condition in which gastrointestinal
motility might carry any risk.
• The participant has dyslexia.
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL71282.068.19 |