Stimulant medication is commonly used in treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, yet its effects on brain development remain unclear. This study investigated the long-term age-dependent effects of stimulants on cortical development after a 4-year naturalistic follow-up of adolescents and adults with ADHD using T1-weighted scans. Medication use was higher in adolescents than adults, and ADHD symptoms improved in both age groups. In line with literature on cortical development, analyses revealed reductions in apparent cortical thickness in adolescents only. However, we observed no effect of medication use on change in cortical thickness, suggesting previously identified psychostimulant effects may be transient.
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