How Ritalin Works in Human Brains by John Medina, Ph.D. For a long time, researchers could only speculate as to how a psychostimulant calms a hyperactive child.
Recent data suggest that the answer is just around the corner.
The creation of a genetic animal model for ADHD has allowed researchers to design experiments that may ferret out the pharmacological interactions of methylphenidate. A protein encoded by a single gene, DAT functions in the synaptic space. When the receptors in the postsynaptic cell have been occupied by dopamine for a period of time and depolarization has occured, dopamine is then released and recycled back to its presynaptic origin. This recycling is not a passive process. The DAT protein actively participates in escorting the neurotransmitter across the synapse and back into the presynaptic cell.