TIME magazine highlights UTHSC research on ADHD

Timemag_BODYSan Antonio (Dec. 3, 2003) – The cover story in the Nov. 3 issue of TIME magazine, “Medicating Young Minds,” discusses the benefits and risks of medicating children with mood and behavior problems. The article highlights the current research in this area being conducted by scientists around the nation – including Steven Pliszka, M.D., chief of child psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

The article explains that Dr. Pliszka conducted brain scans of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who were untreated, as well as children who had been medicated for at least a year, and then compared the brain scans of these two groups. According to TIME, “The treated group showed no signs of any deficits in brain function as measured in blood flow.”

In his research, Dr. Pliszka uses technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take active pictures of the brain. His groundbreaking ADHD studies are aimed at determining the cause of this mysterious disorder, which has baffled both parents and doctors for years. In 2002, Dr. Pliszka received an $870,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance his research.



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