Some people with ADHD have a Ptchd1 gene mutation (more often these are males). MIT and NYU scholars studied the Ptchd1 gene using mice and discovered that its loss may be the basis for symptoms of ADHD (as well as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia).
Why?
Because its loss most significantly affects the part of the brain responsible for keeping out sensory input that’s irrelevant. This part of the brain is the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN).
According to one of the senior authors of the study, the TRN determines what input reaches the cortex, where thinking and planning occurs. “We receive all kinds of information from different sensory regions, and it all goes into the thalamus,” Feng says. “All this information has to be filtered. Not everything we sense goes through.”
Except when Ptchd1 mutations lead to TRN defects. Then, more of everything can go through, leading to, you guessed it, being distracted and overwhelmed.
Can you imagine no filter or one that loosely functions? For some, there’s no need to.
Last year, the prestigious science journal Nature published the study.
Find a summary of it here.
Tonya Lippert 
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