2. WHAT IS ATTENTION DEFICIT
HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER?
Name changed from ADD to ADHD in 1994 (APA)
Neurobehavioral disorder (NIH)
3-5% American children affected
Affects ability to stay on task – age appropriate inhibitions
3. DSM-5 Criteria
Six+ symptoms – by age 16
Five+ adolescents age 17 & adults
Symptoms present by age 12
Symptoms present for at least 6 months
Symptoms present in two or more settings
Inappropriate for developmental level
4. Three subtypes of ADHD:
Predominantly Inattentive
Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive
Combined Presentation
5. PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ADHD
Most studied condition in child psychiatry
Exact causes and the mechanisms
not understood
Neurological disorder
Two neurotransmitters involved
Norepinephrine
Dopamine
6. Brain imaging:
Brain matures in a normal pattern delayed
approximately 3 years
Brain regions – thinking, paying attention
and planning
Cortex – overall delayed maturation
Corpus Callosum – abnormal growth
patterns
7. Heritability
Familial studies – risk among parents and
siblings of children with ADHD increased 2 to 8
fold
Adoption studies – biological relatives more likely
than adoptive relatives
Pooled analysis of 20 twin studies – heritability
76%
Recent study (Burt, 2009) – 60% heritability
Plethora genes – small but significant effect
9. Dopamine & ADHD:
What is dopamine?
Neurotransmitter – Chemical messenger carries
signals between neurons and other cells in body
Neurohormone - hormone secreted by a specialized
neuron into the bloodstream, cerebral spinal fluid
or the intercellular spaces in the nervous system
10. Dopamine and ADHD
Too little dopamine
Dopamine transporters take up too much
dopamine before it can be passed from one
brain cell to another
Inhibitory neurotransmitter – calming
Ability to control impulses
16. LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR EEG ANALYSIS OF
ADOLESCENTS WITH ATTENTION-
DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER DURING
A COGNITIVE TASK
Empirical study
Adolescent boys
EEG dynamics
Cognitive task
17. Methods:
Approximate entropy
(ApEn) - measure the
complexity of the EEG
ApEn likelihood that
similar patterns of
observations will not be
followed by additional
similar observations
series 1: (10,20,10,20,10,20,10,20,10,20,10,20...),
which alternates 10 and 20.
series 2: (10,10,20,10,20,20,20,10,10,20,10,20,20...
18. Results:
Mean ApEn – significantly lower in adolescents
with ADHD than control group when performing
cognitive task (not at rest)
Impaired cortical (cerebral cortex) information
processing
Lower complexity of the EEG
19. Topographic comparisons of ADHD subjects and healthy subjects using the
ApEn calculated from EEGs recorded during an eyes-open resting condition
and during an auditory attentional task.
20. Objective Diagnosis of ADHD Using IMUs
Empirical study
Miniature wireless inertial sensors
Levels and patterns of movement in children
using inertial measurement units (IMUs)
Accelerometers – tool measures acceleration
Gyroscopes – tool measures orientation
The IMUs were used to analyze and characterize the
subjects' motion
23. Results:
IMU’s promising tool for objective ADHD diagnosis
Previous studies – Acceleration measurements
Gyroscope measurements have a good predictive
capability for discrimination between ADHD and
non-ADHD subjects
More than half the selected features came from
the sensor at the child's waist - “global” motion is
a better indicator of hyperactivity than “local”
motions (foot tapping, finger drumming etc.)
24. Why Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder Is Not a True Medical Syndrome
Theoretical study
Thesis - Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
cannot be a valid diagnostic category.
Critical of DSM criteria
25. EXAMPLE:
Jack - 6 symptoms inattention zero hyperactivity (ADHD)
Allen – 5 symptoms inattention zero hyperactivity (NOT)
Mark – 6 symptoms hyperactivity zero inattention (ADHD)
Steve – 5 symptoms hyperactivity zero inattention (NOT)
Bob – 5 symptoms inattention &
5 symptoms hyperactivity (NOT ADHD)
Lindstrom asks "What are the odds that the postulated
syndrome of ADHD will match up with some underlying
disorder…These odds seem pretty slim..."
26. Non pathological reasons for ADHD
Boring teachers
Boring lessons
Boring books
Infrequent rewards
27. Conclusions:
Symptoms like inattentiveness, hyperactivity
or impulsivity - symptoms of real disorders it is
not likely that there is one organic or mental
dysfunction that accounts for the complex of
symptoms labeled ADHD
No reason to think the huge behavioral
category of ADHD can be traced back to some
unknown type of harmful dysfunction in the
individual.
28. Conclusions continued:
No reason to think that clinical levels of hyperactivity
and inattentiveness always must be caused by
pathology.
As with nausea, physicians should view hyperactivity
and inattentiveness as nothing more than possible
symptoms of disorder
29. ADHD and Community Psychology
Objective methods of diagnosis
Provide information on benefits and dangers
of medication
Determine if system changes can have an
affect on symptoms