Attention Deficit

I sat down with veteran actor, Max Gail a short time ago to discuss Max’s attention problems and how they relate to his family and acting career.

Q: Do people still recognize you from Barney Miller?

Continue reading: Max Gail and ADHD

According to a study published in the January 2007 issue of the American Psychological Association’s journal, Developmental Psychology, a mother’s depression predicts whether children with ADHD will develop behavioral problems.

Psychology professor Andrea Chronis, director of the University of Maryland ADHD Program and lead author on the paper said, “In the real world, this could have important implications, because research has suggested that children with both ADHD and conduct problems are at the greatest risk of becoming chronic criminal offenders.”

Continue reading: For ADHD Children, Mother’s Depression, Early Parenting Predict Conduct Problems

Two new studies confirm that ADHD children are more at-risk for alcohol and substance abuse as they grow older. Parental alcoholism and stressful family environments are additional risks. Results of the two studies were published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research [April 2007]

Continue reading: ADHD and Alcohol Abuse

The researchers stated that one in twenty-five children is taking medication for ADHD in the US. However, their research also suggests that the diagnosis of ADHD and subsequent use of medications to control it is now spreading worldwide.

Continue reading: The Global Market For ADHD Medications

I’ve briefly mentioned research studies in the past that find ADHD children have decreased brain volumes (essentially smaller brains) than their peers. Recently, another of these studies was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (April 2007). Using MRI, the study followed 36 children over two years. How research like this gets published is beyond speculation, but in the publish or perish world of academia, it’s fairly standard trash.The journal reports that the researchers (a group of MDs and PhDs) “…compared the volumes of each lobe of the cerebellar hemispheres and vermis in children with ADHD and comparison subjects and used a new regional cerebellar volume measurement to characterize the developmental trajectory of these differences.”

Just an anatomical note, the cerebellar …

Continue reading: Brain Volume and ADHD

As I’ve discussed in previous blogs, ADHD children and adults have difficulty recognizing social cues or regulating impulse control and therefore frequently cannot maintain friendships or adapt well socially.

A recent study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, (48, 50-67) examines the other side of this issue; it examines the attitudes of adults toward persons with depression or AD/HD.

Continue reading: ADHD and Social Distancing

New research shows it takes one part of the brain to start concentrating and another to be distracted. This discovery could help scientists develop better treatments for attention deficit disorder.

Continue reading: Brain Study May Shed Light on Attention Disorders