Stimulant drugs cause cocaine-like brain changes

By Julie Steenhuysen

"A common stimulant drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can cause brain changes in mice similar to those seen in cocaine addiction, U.S. researchers said on Monday."

"They said healthy mice exposed to daily injections of the Novartis drug Ritalin, or methylphenidate, developed changes in the reward centers of their brains, and some of these changes resembled those in mice given cocaine..."

"[The study] was prompted by reports suggesting that more than 7 million people in the United States have abused methylphenidate, using it to get high or to improve academic performance..."

Full article available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28983490/