UNDERSTANDING EFFECTS
of Chronic Methylphenidate Use on Neural Viability and Plasticity
Hannah V. Oakes
Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D., concentration in Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Brooks Pond, Faculty Advisor
Written by Hannah Warren
H
annah Oakes transferred to ETSU as a first-generation college student from Northeast State Community College where she earned a total of three degrees with five majors. Originally intending to become an engineer, her initial degrees were in chemistry, mathematics, physics, general pre-engineering, and pre-engineering with a chemistry focus. Over the course of her education, she became particularly interested in cells and cell signaling, leading to a double major in biology with a biochemistry concentration and chemistry for her bachelor’s degree at ETSU. During the summer before her senior year, she was accepted into ETSU’s McNair program where she gained research experience within the Biochemistry department at the Quillen College of Medicine. After completion of her bachelor’s degree, she was accepted directly into ETSU’s Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program. Hannah’s dissertation advisor, Dr. Brooks Pond, earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Duke University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Much of her work focuses on neuropharmacology, an area that Hannah was interested in. Hannah’s work with Dr. Pond has culminated with the completion of her dissertation on the effects of chronic use of the psychostimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin®) on neural growth and development in a multipart project. Over the past several decades, the number of individuals who have been prescribed methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been on the rise. Additionally, most take methylphenidate for many years, from childhood or adolescence to adulthood, which is an important time of brain development. Despite this, little is known about how this drug affects the brain over time. Some antidepressants have been shown to increase neurogenesis or the “birth of new neurons” within the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory and learning, and Hannah wanted to know if chronic treatment with methylphenidate (which
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