Stefanie Biehl
Dr. Stefanie Biehl
Associated member: June 2009 - May 2012
Dissertation title:
The impact of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and methylphenidate on interference control in working memory tasks.
Abstract: Interference control is part of daily life: In order to successfully maintain contents in working memory, it is important not to be distracted by interfering stimuli – even if the distractors are very similar to the to-be-maintained items. This ability of not attending to interfering stimuli is thought to be mediated by the frontal lobes, whose functioning might in turn be influenced by the COMT-genotype (e.g. Egan, et al., 2001; Goldberg, et al., 2003).
My project uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the impact of the COMT-genotype on interference control while completing a working memory task. After examining the paradigm in a pilot study with healthy controls, the study will be extended to adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In addition to comparing the brain activation of patients with ADHD and healthy controls, the project will use a double-blind placebo-controlled design to examine how methylphenidate changes brain function in ADHD. Based on previous studies (Krause, Dresel, Krause, Kung, & Tatsch, 2000) it is hypothesized that activation patterns might become more similar to those of healthy controls after participants with ADHD were medicated with methylphenidate for six weeks. There are furthermore indications that medication response in ADHD might interact with the patients’ COMT-genotype (Kereszturi, et al., 2008), which will be explored as well.
Principal Investigator:
Current position:
Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie
Universität Tübingen
Schleichstraße 4
72076 Tübingen
| Phone | +49(0) 7071 29-77199 |
| Fax | +49(0) 7071 29-5219 |
| Stefanie Biehl |
