RE: Ritalin and sleepiness

[Shearon, Tim]

Well yes. The drug is a cns stimulant. It used to be called a paradoxical response when a stimulant produced sleepiness, lethargy, etc. It seems to make more sense to many students if you point out that it depends on which parts of the brain are stimulated by a particular stimulant. This isn’t technically or metabolically the correct explanation but it is a reasonable functional explanation. If you stimulate the cortex whose major function is inhibition you get the “paradoxical” response. If you stimulate the diencephalon, brain stem, etc you more likely see excitation result. I’m just not sure what level of response you want to provide to a near complete novice beyond that. ;) Tim Shearon   _________________________________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Albertson College of Idaho 2112 Cleveland Blvd. Caldwell, ID 83605   [EMAIL PROTECTED] teaching: History and systems; Intro to Neuropsychology; Child Development; Physiological Psychology; Psychology and Cinema   -----Original Message----- From: Michael Scoles [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:14 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: Ritalin and sleepiness   Ritalin has been used to *treat* fatigue, but fatigue is also a documented side effect.    http://www.drugs.com/ritalin.html  "Why" is an interesting question.  Rate dependency?  (Although stimulants typically increase low response rates and have little effect on high response rates.)     Michael T. Scoles, Ph.D. Interim Chair, Dept. Psychology & Counseling University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR 72035 >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/17/04 11:54:45 AM >>> Hello all! I had a student who asked me why Ritalin put her to sleep when she took it. She says that she had been misdiagnosed with ADD when she was younger and was given this drug. She said all she wanted to do was sleep. I know that I have heard from other students who have mentioned that they felt like "walking zombies." Any ideas? Deb Dr. Deborah S. Briihl Dept. of Psychology and Counseling Valdosta State University Valdosta, GA 31698 (229) 333-5994 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dbriihl/ Well I know these voices must be my soul... Rhyme and Reason - DMB --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]