D-amphetamine does not improve outcome of somatosensory training

BACKGROUND: D-amphetamine has been shown to affect early stages of stroke recovery, and may have a beneficial effect on functions when administered later after stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To test D-amphetamine effects on skill acquisition after the acute or subacute stages of stroke, when lesion-related structural changes have consolidated.

METHODS: Sixteen healthy subjects were treated with D-amphetamine during a 4-week training of tactile frequency discrimination in a placebo-controlled, double-blind design.

RESULTS: All subjects improved significantly in tactile temporal acuity. However, improvement did not differ in subjects treated with or without D-amphetamine.

CONCLUSION: No beneficial effect of D-amphetamine on somatosensory training improvements was found in healthy subjects.