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posted by on Sunday December 04 2016, @02:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the ants-in-your-pants dept.

This article from MedicalXpress reports on a different way of looking at ADHD:

Hyperactivity seems to be the result of not being able to focus one's attention rather than the other way around. This was proposed in an article in PLOS ONE, written by researchers at Radboud university medical center and Radboud University. It seems to suggest that more attention should be given to the AD than to the HD component.

ADHD is a combination of having difficulties with focusing one's attention (attention deficit, AD) and overly active, impulsive behaviour (hyperactivity disorder, HD). Interestingly enough, many people often struggle with a combination of both characteristics. Very often they are both easily distracted and impulsive, in other words, both AD and HD. "Which leads to the question of whether this involves a correlation, a coincidental combination, or perhaps a causal relation," states computer scientist Tom Heskes.

[...] "This causal relation was also suggested in early psychiatric literature," says psychiatrist Jan Buitelaar, "but as far as we know there was never any hard evidence supporting this claim. It's interesting to see that this mathematical approach enables us to talk with more certainty about a causal relation. And it would be even more interesting, for example, to study whether we can find a more neurological basis for that relation.


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  • (Score: 2) by t-3 on Sunday December 04 2016, @06:31PM

    by t-3 (4907) on Sunday December 04 2016, @06:31PM (#436946)

    Several years ago I heard a doctor/scientist on NPR I think, explaining how ADD/ADHD were immensely positive traits for early humans and almost certainly predate humanity (IIRC, there was research on chimps I think showing the leaders and best hunters were predominantly ADD types). For hunting, defending against predation, and avoiding dangerous situations, the short attention span makes one more aware and less likely to stumble into anything blind. The "hyper-focus" is also valuable when shit does hit the fan, because of less possibility of distraction leading to an fatal error.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @09:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @09:08PM (#436974)

    I have heard that too. Unfortunately one cannot make it a statement of fact as there is no experimental data to prove this.

    Although if it is genetic and prevalent in human (and chimp) society then it is probably the case.

    There are potentially other mental "illnesses" that follow this pattern also such as sociopaths/psychopaths.

     

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @10:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @10:42PM (#436996)

    That is just BS. Speculation at best.
    A major problem with ADHD is that you CAN'T CONTROL your focus. So people are saying that ADHD gives you the ability to at an instant shift your focus like a laser onto some other thing that needs attention. No, that's not how it works. You can't control what gets your focus, and you might not be able that tear yourself away from what you are doing even though you know you should. Like, you know, firing off that last text message while you are driving, so you don't see the road turn and you crash your car. Or in caveman times, not watching where you are walking and instead looking at that cool eagle in the tree so you slip off the mountainside. Or not fetching the water because you decided to pick mushrooms instead, and you forgot your bucket and knife and lost them, AGAIN!

    I will say it CAN help with creativity because a large part of that is letting your mind wander where it may. Good luck acting on those thoughts in a timely manner, though.