Will methylphenidate have an effect on self-control?

One’s ability to self regulate or control their behaviour is important for human function, and recent studies have suggested that self-control is a depletable resource. When participants perform two consecutive tasks that require self-control, their performance on the second task is worse than when people perform a task that does not require self-control followed by a self-control task. This phenomenon is referred to as resource-depletion. Although previous studies have shown that methylphenidate can improve various aspects of self-control, its effects on resource depletion are unknown. We will give methylphenidate to healthy individuals to investigate its effect on cognitive performance following resource depletion. We will also measure cardioviascular responses, cortisol levels and record electroencephalography (EEG) to study the neural processes associated with resource depletion, and those influenced by methylphenidate.