Alcohol Use DisorderPhase 2NCT07306078
Methylphenidate and Response to Alcohol Cues
A Phase 2 study testing Methylphenidate Pill in people with Alcohol Use Disorder, run by University of Florida at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to determine whether changes in attention levels related to taking a single dose of a medication called methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin, affects responses to alcohol cues. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 25 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- What is being tested?
- Methylphenidate Pill
- Type of treatment
- Pill or oral medicine
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 50 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Oct 2026to Aug 2028
- Phase
- Phase 2
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 25 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- Adults ages 18-25 years
- Meets DSM-5 criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder -OR- score on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) of >=8
- Fluent in English
- Normal or corrected to normal vision
Who cannot join
- Meets DSM-5 criteria for psychotic disorders, neurological disorders, or substance use disorders other than Alcohol Use Disorder.
- Participant routinely uses psychoactive drugs or medications except for non-dependent marijuana or nicotine use (due to common use of these substances in individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder).
- Participant has contraindications for taking methylphenidate.
- Participant has contraindications for being in an MRI machine
- Self-reported history of high blood pressure over 140/90 or consistent readings of 140/90 or above upon arrival for a session.
- History of seizure disorder
- Liver disease
- Participant is currently pregnant or trying to become pregnant
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida, 32610
Amanda Elton, PhD, 352-294-4927, amandaelton@ufl.edu
About this study
Official title: Attentional Ability and Resilience to Alcohol Use Disorder: Neurocognitive Mechanisms: Protocol Two
The purpose of this study is to determine whether changes in attention levels related to taking a single dose of a medication called methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin, affects responses to alcohol cues. The study will observe the effects of methylphenidate or a placebo on neural and craving responses to alcohol cues through fMRI and behavioral testing. Participants will be involved in one remote and two in-person sessions.
Read the detailed description
Recent studies have revealed a robust link between attentional ability and resilience against stress-related psychopathology, in general, and against alcohol use disorder (AUD) specifically. For example, self-reported attentional ability correlates with scales of psychological resilience and with lower alcohol misuse in at-risk individuals. One mechanism by which attention may relate to resilience in AUD is through its effects on alcohol cue reactivity. Exposure to alcohol cues can induce motivation to drink alcohol for those with AUD. Leveraging the high rates of co-morbidity of AUD and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, this pilot study seeks to demonstrate whether experimentally enhancing attention in individuals with alcohol misuse reduces markers of addiction severity (i.e., craving and attentional bias responses to alcohol cues) and will explore the neural and behavioral mechanisms. Methylphenidate not only improves sustained attention, but in users of cocaine and methamphetamine, it was previously shown to reduce craving, attentional bias, and neural responses to viewing drug-related cues. This study will use this commonly-prescribed medication as a pharmacological probe of attentional processes related to alcohol use disorder. It is hypothesized that acute methylphenidate-associated attentional enhancement will engage compensatory brain mechanisms that will lead to attenuated craving, reduced attentional bias, and modulated neural responses to alcohol cues in young adults. Fifty young adults reporting hazardous alcohol use will be recruited for a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects experiment to test the effects of an acute 20 mg methylphenidate administration to increase attention on cue-induced alcohol craving [during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)] and attentional bias. Subjects will also perform computerized tasks of general attention with non-alcohol-related stimuli.
- Conditions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Being tested
- Methylphenidate Pill, Placebo Pill
- Keywords
- fMRI, methylphenidate, ritalin, attention, alcohol
- Medical subject headings
- Alcoholism
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Methylphenidate PillDrug
Encapsulated methylphenidate
Placebo PillOther
Encapsulated placebo
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Crossover 1: methylphenidate, placebo | Experimental | methylphenidate (single dose, oral, 20 mg, immediate release) followed by placebo (single dose, oral) Receives: Drug: Methylphenidate Pill; Other: Placebo Pill |
| Crossover 2: placebo, methylphenidate | Experimental | placebo (single dose, oral) followed by methylphenidate (single dose, oral, 20 mg, immediate release) Receives: Drug: Methylphenidate Pill; Other: Placebo Pill |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Neural responses to cues
Whole-brain cue-elicited fMRI responses will be examined by contrasting activation following alcohol images with brain activation following neutral images. Regions-of-interest analysis will focus on anterior cingulate cortex, dorsal striatum, ventral striatum, and amygdala.
Measured: 15 minutes
Secondary outcomes (1)
Self-reported craving
Craving following presentation of alcohol and neutral images will be reported using 0-10 visual analog scales. Differences in craving following the alcohol images and craving following the neutral images will be tested.
Measured: 15 minutes
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted29 Dec 2025
- Study startOct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionAug 2028 (estimated)
- Study completionAug 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Alcohol Use DisorderStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of FloridaThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Investigator
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Florida
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07306078
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- IRB202500591
- Other IDs
- R01AA032400
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 3 Dec 2025
- Last updated
- 20 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- Yes
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: The final dataset will include brain imaging, behavioral, and self-report data obtained from task (viewing of alcohol pictorial cues), self-ratings of craving during the task scan, computerized tasks of attention, and interview and survey measures of mental health and substance use. De-identified individual-participant level (IPD) raw data will be shared. Appropriate measures such as de-facing T1 anatomical MRI images using software for this purpose (e.g., mri\_deface) will be used for data de-identification prior to sharing, and informed consent forms will reflect those plans.