Neuroscience and ADHD part 1

There is a great deal of information on the web about ADHD. Some of it is really useful and based in strong scientific research. Other information is not useful and can be misleading. I suggest you take great care to check the validity of the sites you are looking at. Having said that, it is good to expand our understanding of the disorder. As our children grow and develop the issues associated with the disorder can change.

There is a great deal of research into ADHD and one of the most exciting areas is research into the neuroscience of the disorder. Dr Thomas Brown has a great website that contains well researched information on the many and various aspects of the disorder.

You can find his information at www.drthomasbrown.com

Here is a little of what he says.

"Although ADD/ADHD has been recognized for over 100 years, it has usually been seen as essentially a behavior problem. Yet many with ADD/ADHD suffer not from behavior problems so much as from chronic problems with focusing their attention, organizing their work, sustaining their effort, and utilizing short-term memory.

It's time for a new understanding of Attention Deficit Disorder!

This website offers a new perspective on this disorder, one based on current clinical and neuroscience research. It presents a model of ADD/ADHD as essentially a problem with executive functions, the management system of the brain. It describes how a child or adult with ADD/ADHD can focus very well on a few activities that intensely interest them, yet be unable to focus adequately on most other tasks of daily life. It explains how ADD/ADHD often looks like a weakness in willpower, but isn't."

There is more but I suggest you take the time to look at it for yourself because there is a great deal of good information including his own research, links to other research papers and  links to PDF fact sheets.

The study of neuroscience is fascinating and we now know that the brain is much more plastic than we thought a decade or two ago. The neurophysiology of our brains is not set.The way we think, what we think about, affects the neurophysiology and the structures of our brain. The good news is that it is possible to change the structures for the better and there are specific techniques which enable us to build healthy structures. (more on this later). This has got to be good news for those diagnosed with ADHD. Its not a complete cure all, but it helps to know that there are things we can do ourselves that help us take an holistic approach to treating the disorder.

I'll continue this next time!