Objective: Examine the effects of a single dose of methylphenidate (MPD), on event-related functional connectivity (FC), in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: Recent studies have suggested that MPD may have modulatory effects on processing of task-relevant stimuli in PD. However, the effects of MPD on attentional FC networks, in PD, have not been investigated to date.

Method: The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose, cross-over clinical trial. Two recording sessions (20 mg MPD or placebo) were performed in each patient, 7-14 days apart. We recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) in PD patients during the performance of an extended version of a visual oddball task. We evaluated FC during the processing of task-relevant (targets, predictive sequence) and task-irrelevant (randomized standards) stimuli, using the weighted phase-locking index and graph theory.

Results: We found that acute administration of MPD, in comparison with placebo, modulated FC during processing of task-irrelevant stimuli, in PD patients. Specifically, MPD induced decreases in FC within fronto-temporo-parietal networks, increased values of cluster coefficients and decreased global efficiency, within the theta band, during the processing of non-informative standard stimuli.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that in PD patients, MPD may modulate activity within fronto-parietal networks by attenuating the allocation of attention towards task-irrelevant stimuli.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/acute-administration-of-methylphenidate-modulates-functional-connectivity-during-the-processing-of-irrelevant-stimuli-in-parkinsons-disease-patients/