Stimulant ADHD Medications Work Differently Than Thought

Prescription stimulants, such as Ritalin and Adderall, are widely used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including in children. In the U.S., about 3.5 million kids ages 3 to 17 take an ADHD medication, a number that has increased as more children have been diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder.

Stimulant medications have long been thought to treat ADHD by acting upon regions of the brain that control attention, but a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.