Category: Latest and Greatest

The latest and greatest research and news about ADHD

Fidgeting: Spin vs. Science

My local Memorial weekend festival had fidget spinners for sale, ranging from $12 to over $20, advertised to help with ADHD, anxiety and more.  It left me wondering what we know about their effectiveness.  It turns out very little.  On my go-to research source, pubmed, I could find no single study on fidget spinners or their kin (cubes, etc.).  But NPR published two articles exactly two years apart, one on fidget spinners and one on fidgeting.  ball-1023984_1920

On May 14, 2017, NPR published an article on fidget spinners.

Essentially, the article quotes a Duke professor suggesting to stick with what’s known to work.

The professor points out that there’s no evidence that fidget spinners work.  Though it’s said, what seems perhaps buried or likely to be easily overlooked is that the reason there’s no evidence is that there’s actually no trustworthy research on them.  See here.

Meanwhile, two years earlier, on May 14, 2015, NPR published an article describing a small study that shows that children with ADHD performed better on tasks requiring concentration when they fidgeted.  (The children worked while on a swivel chair that they, of course, spun and moved.)

Overall, more movement meant better performance for these kids (kids without ADHD, on the other hand, did worse with movement).  The lead author, however, cautioned against both too little and too much movement.  See here.

Perhaps fidget spinners would fall into too much movement or the wrong kind (attracting eyes as well as fingers), but it’d be interesting to see some real research on them.

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Something Fishy

ADHD often comes with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid deficiencies.

But upping your omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may have little effect on your ADHD symptoms. What gives? Recent research reveals that it’s all about the ratio.

ADHD can mean low levels of both but, overall, higher levels of omega-6 to omega-3.

Now you may say, well, I just need to increase my omega-3 levels then, right? I wish it were so simple. Researchers have tried this with only some succesfish-2207845_1920s. A supplement heavier on the omega-3 than omega-6 side may be better, as indicated by a study that found benefit from giving participants an omega-3/6 supplement containing mostly EPA and DHA (omega-3), with only 60mg of LA (omega-6).

If it’s possible, it seems you’re best off knowing your ratio. And then knowing how much omega-3 (EPA/DHA) and omega-6 (LA or AA) you need to optimize it.

See here.

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Medicating Children

As the mother of a teenager with ADHD soon entering high school, I want to know the pros and cons of medication.  If you are a parenpill-1254786t reading this, you likely do, too.  And I will admit, I’m torn.

The research seems too unfinished for me to rely on it as much as I might like.

Consider that over 40 scholars from the UK, USA, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Australia will be reviewing  various “pharmacological interventions” to rank how well they work and their “tolerability profiles,” looking at these things for children, teens and adults.  The scholars note that “there is a lack of up-to-date and comprehensive evidence on how available ADHD drugs compare and rank” with regard to their ability to deliver desired results and to do so with tolerable side effects.  See more here.

But do we keep waiting for what seem to be more definitive answers? At what cost?

Consider this…recent research suggests that school could be a more rewarding experience for children and teens with ADHD who use medication for their symptoms.

Examining about 10, 0000 12-year-old twins, some who’d been followed since 7 years of age, researchers found that medication-free children with ADHD showed lower educational achievement than children with ADHD using methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta).  And the medicated children showed lower educational achievement than children without ADHD.  That is, ADHD appeared to lead to lower educational achievement but especially when unmedicated.  Plus ADHD symptoms predicted a negative educational trajectory from 14 to 16 years of age.  See study here.

Where does this leave us parents wanting our children to have the best chance at achieving what deep down really matters to them?

It leaves me leaning toward the test of experience.  I am willing to let my teen, when wishing to do so, swallow a pill as I (figuratively) swallow mine.

Meanwhile, I will keep combing the research….

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Marijuana + ADHD = ?

My husband read my post below and, essentially, said, “Huh?” He suggested I keep it simple and get right to the answer to the question posed above.  Here it is:  A big-deal study showed that, contrary to expectations, marijuana (mj) had no effect on ADHD-related brain differences.  It had effects on the brain, of course, but these effects were separate from the effects of ADHD.  Details and other results, which are the ones of more interest to me, below.

An impressive group of scholars got together to examine the mj + ADHD question using 21- to 25-year-olds followed since elementary school as part of a large multi-site longitudinal study of ADHD known as MTA.  Comparing mj users (who used at least once/week) & non-users with & without ADHD, the group expected to find that mj intensifies ADHD-related brain alterations.  They, essentially, thought mj would add insult to injury (the injury being the decreased “integrity of functional networks” seen with ADHD).

networks

But they found no one-two punch.

ADHD was associated with decreased integrity of functional networks responsible for executive function and somatomotor control, but mj affected different functional networks.

Interesting to me is that one of the mj-affected networks was the default mode network, which, when you have ADHD, fails to cooperate with the task-positive network (for more on this).  It raises the question of whether mj has an indirect effect on ADHD symptoms, even if no direct one.  (The other mj-affected network was the lateral visual one.)

Also interesting to me is that ADHD was associated with INCREASED functional network integrity for two networks:  1) “stronger integration of right posterior parietal cortex” within the dorsal attention network & 2) “stronger integration of left inferior premotor region within the cingulo-opercular network.”  For 1, think spatial orientation toward what’s relevant and, for 2, think maintaining alertness.

The researchers described the first strengthening (1 above) as “maladaptive” because of its association with slower processing speed for those without ADHD.

But they saw the second (2 above) as helpful and suggest it “may reflect a compensatory adaptation – the strengthening of connections or recruitment of additional brain regions” for the sake of “maintaining normal cognitive performance.”

In almost a side-note kind of way, they note that their data support that ADHD-related differences seen within the somatomotor network “are a good candidate for imaging-based prediction of ADHD diagnosis,” as suggested by earlier research.  Wow.

Actual study here.

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Go, Go, Go and Slow, Slow, Slow?

A few years ago, researchers at MIT showed that adults with ADHD have two brain networks that compete for their attention instead of “playing nice,” as they do for adults without ADHD.  These networks are essentially a go, go, go one that lights up when we have a task to do (“task-positive network”) and a slow, slow, slow one that activates when we have nothing to do and can daydream or let our minds wander (“defccv-jp-ngault mode network”).  Without ADHD, when one network has its turn to be active, the other one turns down…they cooperate.  With ADHD, they appear to often be active at the same time.  Imagine what that’s like.  If you have ADHD, you already know.  If only others could experience your brain to know what it’s like….

See for yourself.

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“It’s like a room full of puppies and candies.”

ADHD infoChildren often say it best.

My child said this as he heard me speaking about ADHD.

I asked him what he meant, and he said it’s what a room seems like to him.  I asked him what an empty room seems like, and he described how he will notice the shapes, curves, and corners of the walls; bumps on the ceiling; light seeping under the door; and the texture of the floor, adding that carpet’s like a maze of threads.  He concluded, “Even an empty room is filled with so much.  It’s insane.”

 

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