Methylphenidate as a cognitive enhancer in healthy young people
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ABSTRACT The so-called cognitive enhancers have been widely and increasingly used by healthy individuals who seek improvements in cognitive performance despite having no pathologies. One drug used for this purpose is methylphenidate, a first-line drug for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Objective: The aim of the present study was to test the effect of acute administration of varying doses of methylphenidate (10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and placebo) on a wide range of cognitive functions in healthy young people. Methods: A total of 36 young university students and graduates participated in the study. The participants underwent tests of attention and of episodic, and working memory. Results: No differences in performance were observed on any of the tests. There was a dose-dependent (40 mg > placebo) effect on self-reported wellbeing. Conclusions: According to the recent literature, psychostimulant medications, such as methylphenidate, improve performance when cognitive processes are below an optimal level, which was not the case for the subjects of the present study. We suggest the impression that methylphenidate enhances cognitive performance in healthy young people, justifying its use, may be due to improvements in subjective wellbeing promoted by the drug.
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Six prior studies have largely found no evidence of meaningful neuropsychological improvement in students without ADHD who ingest a stimulant medication, including no improvements for working memory, response inhibition, vigilance, cognitive processing speed, planning, set-shifting, interference control, and distraction suppression.
“Six studies have largely found no evidence of meaningful neuropsychological improvement in students without ADHD who ingest a stimulant medication.”
From Effects of stimulant medication on neuropsychological functioning in college students without ADHD. (2026) · cites this paper as Batistela et al., 2016
The Discussion reports no effect of methylphenidate on cognitive functioning in this study of healthy young people, and it describes another study with no improvement in attention or working memory. It does not establish the citing sentence’s count of six studies; it also reports improvements in visuo-spatial memory and planning in one prior study. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredOther studies examining the effects of stimulant medication using neuropsychological measures have also used this waiting period length.
“Other studies examining the effects of stimulant medication using neuropsychological measures have also used this waiting period length (e.g., Batistela et al., 2016).”
From Effects of stimulant medication on neuropsychological functioning in college students without ADHD. (2026) · cites this paper as Batistela et al., 2016
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Cites
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Effects of stimulant medication on neuropsychological functioning in college students without ADHD.
Vasko, J. M., Looby, A., Serrano, J. W., Abu-Ramadan, T. M., Miller, E. A., McGee, N., Smith, D. T., & Hartung, C. M. (2026) · Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1037/pha0000853
- Authors
- Batistela, S., Bueno, O. F. A., Vaz, L. J., & Galduróz, J. C. F.
- Affiliations
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo (BR)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Dementia & Neuropsychologia
- Publisher
- FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
- Published
- 2016-06
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 134-142
- ISSN
- 1980-5764 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5642404
- OpenAlex
- W2467706629
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 1.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Dementia & Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Associação Fundo de Incentivo à Pesquisa
- Division of Graduate Education
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- methylphenidate, nootropic drugs, psychostimulants, healthy young adults, attention, working memory, episodic memory, dose-dependent effects, subjective well-being, ADHD medication
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