ScienceDaily: ADD and ADHD News

A new study suggests a trend toward developing hyperactivity among typically developing elementary-school-aged siblings of autistic preschoolers and supports the notion that mothers of young, autistic children experience more depression and stress than mothers with typically developing children....

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Until now, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was related to alterations in the brain affecting attention and cognitive processes. Researchers in Spain have now discovered anomalies in the brain's reward system related to the neural circuits of motivation and gratification. In children with ADHD, the degree of motivation when carrying out an...

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The adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on behavioral, cognitive, and social development can lead to a range of symptoms referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Attention and cognition problems seen in individuals with a history of prenatal alcohol exposure often resemble those linked to attention deficit hyperactivity...

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ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is among the costliest of behavioral disorders. New research suggests that the culprit may be an old villain -- lead -- and what's more it explains the causal pathway from exposure to disability....

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Children who are mixed-handed, or ambidextrous, are more likely to have mental health, language and scholastic problems in childhood than right- or left-handed children, according to a new study. The researchers behind the study suggest that their findings may help teachers and health professionals to identify children who are particularly...

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An Australian-German team of scientists has found a way to measure the attention span of a fly. The findings could lead to further advances in the understanding of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism in humans....

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Two brain areas fail to connect when children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder attempt a task that measures attention, according to researchers....

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A new thought-operated computer system which can reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children is being be rolled out across the UK....

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The main criterion defining autism spectrum disorders is difficulty in emotional-social behavior. Nevertheless, many people with ASD have some difficulties in three other domains -- memory, perception and motor behavior. In a new theoretical model, one researcher recommends a uniform way to think about these four types of difficulties, which...

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Only about half of American children and teenagers who have certain mental disorders receive professional services, according to a nationally representative survey....

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It seems obvious that naturally waking up from sleep and being startled by something in the environment are two very different emotional states. However, the neuroscience that underlies these different forms of arousal has, for the most part, remained a mystery. Now, new research demonstrates that there are at least...

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Children exposed prenatally to tobacco smoke and during childhood to lead face a particularly high risk for ADHD, according to new research. The study estimates that up to 35 percent of ADHD cases in children between the ages of 8 and 15 could be reduced by eliminating both of these...

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Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be responsible for bipolar disorder in children. Researchers found four versions of the regulatory gene RORB that were associated with pediatric bipolar disorder....

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Deep brain stimulation may be a safe and effective treatment for Tourette's syndrome, according to new research. The first symptoms of Tourette syndrome are almost always noticed in childhood and some common tics include eye blinking, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging and head or shoulder jerking....

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Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of licorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behavior, a study has shown. A study of 8-year-old children whose mothers ate large amounts of licorice when pregnant found they did not perform as well as other youngsters in cognitive tests....

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Adolescents with psychiatric symptoms such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, social phobia, hostility and depression may be more likely to develop an Internet addiction, according to a new report....

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A brain-imaging study provides the first definitive evidence that patients suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have lower-than-normal levels of certain proteins essential for experiencing reward and motivation....

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Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have a high risk of psychiatric problems, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with FASD are often initially diagnosed with ADHD. A first-of-its-kind study shows that children with FASD have a distinct behavioural profile: significantly weaker social cognition and facial emotion-processing abilities...

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Stimulant medications, such as Ritalin and Adderall, are the accepted treatment to stem hyperactivity in children with attention deficit-hyperactive disorder and improve their behavior. Now a recent review of research by pediatric psychologists suggests that such medication, or the assumption of medication, may produce a placebo effect -- not in...

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Pediatric researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that occur more frequently in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder than in children without ADHD. Many of those genes were already known to be important for learning, behavior, brain function and neurodevelopment, but had not been previously associated with ADHD....

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A Canadian researcher working in the UK says doctors, authors and educators are doing hyperactive children a disservice by claiming that hyperactivity as we understand it today has always existed....

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As thousands of students nationwide prepare to leave high school, anew study shows a clear link between attention problems early in school -- as early as kindergarten -- and lower high school test scores....

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Significant and widespread cognitive problems appear to exist in schizophrenia in its earliest phase, making it very hard for people with the disorder to work, study or be social, according to a new study....

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Adolescents with a childhood diagnosis of Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to have current and lifetime sleep problems and disorders, regardless of the severity of current ADHD symptoms. Authors suggest that findings indicate that mental health professionals should screen for sleep problems and psychiatric comorbidities among all adolescents...

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A new review finds no evidence to support the use of risperidone to treat attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in people with intellectual disabilities, even though the review authors say this is a common prescribing pattern....

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A recent Finnish study suggests that children's short sleep duration even without sleeping difficulties increases the risk for behavioral symptoms of ADHD....

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The most disabling aspect of Tourette syndrome is that in 90% of cases, it exists in conjunction with another disorder. The most frequent co-occurring condition in people with Tourette is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, though the cause of this association is uncertain. Having one disorder can be disabling enough, but...

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You've probably been there. In a doctor's office, being advised to do what you dread -- exercise. You get that feeling in your gut, acknowledging that, indeed, you should exercise but probably won't. Now imagine that the doctor is your optometrist....

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Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder show more variable or inconsistent responses during on "working" or short-term, memory tasks when compared with typically developing peers, a new study has found....

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Everyone makes an occasional error due to lack of attention. Now scientists have found a distinct electric signature in the brain which predicts that such an error is about to be made. The discovery could prove useful in a variety of applications, from developing monitoring devices that alert air traffic...

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Preliminary research in healthy men suggests that the narcolepsy drug modafinil, increasingly being used to enhance cognitive abilities, affects the activity of dopamine in the brain in a way that may create the potential for abuse and dependence, according to a new study....

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Researchers trying to uncover the mechanisms that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder have found an abnormality in the brains of adolescent boys suffering from the conditions, but not where they expected to find it....

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In studies of 8- to 12-year-old boys, scientists found that children with ADHD became significantly more active than their typically developing peers during tasks that required them to remember and manipulate information. All of the children sat relatively still while watching Star Trek and painting on a computer program, tasks...

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New research suggests the presence of an intrinsic sleep problem specific to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and supports the idea that children with ADHD may be chronically sleep deprived and have abnormal REM sleep....

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A special issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics: Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest progress in genetic research of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder....

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A new study says a combination of factors must be targeted to reduce sexual activity in teenagers. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 750,000 pregnancies and almost half of new cases of sexually transmitted infections were among adolescents....

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Tobacco use is more prevalent and smoking cessation less likely among persons with attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder. In a study of smokers with attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms, those who exhibited elevated hyperactivity and impulsivity, with or without inattention, showed lower quit rates after eight weeks than those with inattention symptoms alone or...

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A new study reveals shape differences in the brains of children with ADHD. Researchers used a new tool, large deformation diffeomorphic mapping, allowing them to examine the shape of the basal ganglia. Boys with ADHD had shape differences and decreased volume of the basal ganglia compared to typically developing children....

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In contrast to recent findings, two of the most common medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder do not appear to cause genetic damage in children who take them as prescribed, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Duke University Medical Center....

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If your teen can’t pass a driver’s test, it might not mean more time in driver’s ed is needed. It might be due to ADHD....

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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder appears to affect movement in boys more than it does in girls, according to a new study. ADHD is one of the most common mental disorders found in children. Symptoms include impulsiveness, hyperactivity, such as not being able to sit still, and inattention or constant daydreaming....

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A study of chronic medication use in children ages 5 to 19 found that America's tweens and teens more than doubled their use of type 2 diabetes medications between 2002 and 2005. Utilization patterns for blood pressure, cholesterol, attention-deficit disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, asthma and depression medications also increased at...

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Young people with ADHD are not only at increased risk of starting to smoke cigarettes, they also tend to become more seriously addicted to tobacco and more vulnerable to environmental factors such as having friends or parents who smoke. The report also found that individuals with more ADHD-related symptoms, even...

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Parents of a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are nearly twice as likely to divorce by the time the child is 8 years old than parents of children without ADHD, the first study to look at this issue in depth has shown....

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For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder tasks that require concentration such as doing homework or taking a test can be very difficult. A simple, inexpensive remedy may be a "dose of nature."...

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Children born prematurely are four times more likely to have emotional problems or behavioral disorders, according to new research....

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A genetic change in the dopamine transporter, discovered in two brothers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, makes it behave as if amphetamine is present and "run backward," Vanderbilt Medical Center investigators report. The researchers propose that because the altered transporter pushes dopamine out into the synapse, it alters dopamine signaling...

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An innovative program is helping busy primary care physicians improve the care they provide for school-aged children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a new study. The study is the first to intervene with an entire community of primary care physicians and help them more accurately diagnose and effectively monitor treatment...

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