A Study on the Effect of Methylphenidate on Creativity of Healthy Adults - Full Text View

Purpose

Creative cognition plays an important role in art, invention and innovation, as well as in everyday life and thus has a significant effect on society as a whole. Research with healthy, normal participants and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder indicates a possible inverse relationship between attentional function and creativity. This evidence raises the possibility that Methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) could decrease creativity in people using it for cognitive enhancement. However, this question has not been addressed by previous studies. Hence, the present study aims to examine the effect of MPH on creativity in healthy young adults.

Condition	Intervention
MPH Influence on Creativity	Drug: MPH

Study Type:	Interventional
Study Design:	Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor) Primary Purpose: Treatment

Resource links provided by NLM:

Drug Information available for: Methylphenidate Methylphenidate hydrochloride

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Shalvata Mental Health Center:

Primary Outcome Measures:

The Alternate Uses Task [ Time Frame: 30 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
This is a standard measure of divergent thinking, whose stimuli and responses are verbal. Subjects will be presented with a list of six common objects (shoe , can, stapler, tire, drinking glass, cardboard box) and will be asked to list as many alternate uses as possible for each object, within a ten minute time limit (the most common everyday use is indicated in parenthesis). Fluency, flexibility and originality will be scored. Original responses will be defined as statistically infrequent responses according to a pretest conducted in our lab

Secondary Outcome Measures:

Remote Associates Test (RAT) [ Time Frame: 20 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
The task in a RAT problem is, given three words, to find a fourth word that connects them. (For example, lick, mine, shaker: Answer, salt.) RAT problems require problem solvers to search for distantly related information, and have become a benchmark test of creativity).
The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): [ Time Frame: 10 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
A computerized task of risk-taking behavior in both healthy individuals and in neurological and psychiatric populations. Participants will be able to acquire money by inflating a balloon shown on the computer screen by pressing a key on the keyboard, knowing, however, that the balloon can explode at any time, resulting in the loss of the potential gain. Thus, the participant must balance the potential gain of accruing more money against the potential risk of losing all the money accrued for that balloon.
The Evaluation Task [ Time Frame: 10 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
In the evaluation task participants will be presented with responses of other participants who had performed the AUT previously (with six different items). They will be instructed to rate the general levels of appropriateness of each response and then rate the subcomponents of appropriateness namely, uniqueness, usefulness and deviance by using a 5 points rating scales (ranging from 'not at all' to 'highly' appropriate/unique/useful/deviant).
Torrance Tests for Creative Thinking (TTCT): [ Time Frame: 10 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
the circles subset of the figural part of the TTCT will be used. Participants will be presented with a page of circle. They will be instructed to produce as many different drawings as possible within a time limit of 10 min. Participants will be asked to think of drawings they think no one else could think of. Answers will be scored on fluency, flexibility and originality based on Torrance
Motivation from having an effect [ Time Frame: 12 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
three blocks of trials in which participants respond to colored circles rapidly descanting from the top of the screen. They are then probed from their experience with the task and their motivation to perform it.
visual selection and awareness [ Time Frame: 3 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
a 1-trail task in which participants are oriented to either the inner or outer of two concentric colored circles and then are asked to report the color of both task relevant (oriented) and task irrelevant circles

Other Outcome Measures:

Raven Progressive Matrices Test Verbal fluency [ Time Frame: 20 min ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
1. Verbal fluency: Verbal fluency will be assessed using two items taken from the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT). In this test the participants are instructed to, during one minute each, generate words beginning with a given letter . All words, except proper nouns and names, are allowed.
2. Raven Progressive Matrices Test which assesses non-verbal intelligence

Estimated Enrollment:	30
Study Start Date:	October 2012
Estimated Study Completion Date:	February 2013
Estimated Primary Completion Date:	February 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

Arms	Assigned Interventions
Experimental: Experimental: Healthy adults Participants, aged 21-40 years, will be recruited through an advertisement posted at the University of Haifa (including the website of Haifa University).	Drug: MPH a capsule containing 20 mg Other Name: methylphenidate

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Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	21 Years to 40 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	Yes

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Participants, aged 21-40 years

Exclusion Criteria:

People diagnosed with a psychiatric clinical disorder and /or taking psychotropic drugs (whether prescription drugs, herbal extracts or illegal drugs), which may impair their performance in tasks that are used in the study).
People for whom there is a contra-indication for consuming Ritalin:

People who are or were diagnosed with cardiac medical condition, hypertension, liver damage, glaucoma or neurologic disorders (e.g. epilepsy, CVA, parkinson's, Aneurism, brain SOL, MS).
Pregnant or nursing women; female participants will be required to report whether they are pregnant, and in case they are, they will not participate.
Reported use of drugs at the previous 30 days.

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01683032

Contacts

Contact: Hila Gvirts, MA	972-97478644	hilagv@clalit.org.il
Contact: Naama Mayseless, MA		naama27@gmail.com

Sponsors and Collaborators

Shalvata Mental Health Center

More Information

No publications provided

Responsible Party:	Shalvata Mental Health Center
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT01683032 History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers:	SHA -0011-12
Study First Received:	August 26, 2012
Last Updated:	September 10, 2012
Health Authority:	Israel: Ministry of Health

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Methylphenidate
Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors
Dopamine Agents
Neurotransmitter Agents
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Pharmacologic Actions

Neurotransmitter Uptake Inhibitors
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Central Nervous System Stimulants
Central Nervous System Agents
Therapeutic Uses

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 19, 2013