Drugs & Health Blog

Prescription Stimulants Affect People With ADHD Differently

From this positron emission tomography (PET) scan, you can see how natural dopamine levels are different in people with and without ADHD. The scan on the left shows the brain of someone without ADHD, and the scan on the right shows the brain of someone with ADHD. The greater concentration of yellow, orange, and red in the nucleus accumbens in the scan on the left reflects a higher amount of dopamine.
Sara Bellum



  • Increase blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature.
  • Decrease appetite and sleep.
  • Cause feelings of hostility and paranoia.
  • Increase a person’s risk for addiction.





The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - another NIH institute - supports ADHD research. They would be the best ones to answer your question. Visit http://www.nimh.nih.gov.


@R. Neogi


Thank you, Loads of information!.
Why doesn't the site require the author of this article to use his/her real name? Sarah Bellum?? Really???

Hi Cere Brum (we see what you did there...), we hear you and stopped using the name Sara Bellum a few months ago.  In order to be more transparent, we're using the name "NIDA Blog Team."  You can see who's on the team and their read their bios here.

thank god for this simple and straight foward explanation. I just read over an entire, complicated "scientific" "study" which told me NOTHING. This makes alot more sense. thank you
hi can you give me the source of PET scan image? thank you
Hi David, here is some more information on the image: http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2009/11/invisible-disabilitie......
hi can you give me the reference of this article?, specially the source of PET scan image thank you

Add new comment