This article is the most recent, valid and reliable research that has been completed on ADHD, which explains this conundrum of a disorder.
This definitive research on ADHD was completed by P. Shaw†‡, K. Eckstrand†, W. Sharp†, J. Blumenthal†, J. P. Lerch§, D. Greenstein†, L. Clasen†, A. Evans§, J. Giedd†, and J. L. Rapoport†, (not me!) at the National Institute of Health and is entitled: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is characterized by a delay in cortical maturation.
Even though I tried, it is virtually impossible to copy a PDF onto a blog, so if you would like to read the article, please contact me, and I will email it to you.
What did they study and what were their results?
The debate has been over whether the disorder is caused by “…a delay in brain maturation or whether it represents a complete deviation from the template of typical development” (Shaw et al., 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, p. 19649-19654).
Their results found that in young people, with ADHD, the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed three years in some regions, on average, as compared to young people without ADHD (National Institute of Mental Health). Therefore, if your child is 12 years old, his inappropriate behavior may actually represent the behavior of a nine year old! Now that explains so much, right???
Dr. Shaw told the CHADD conference in 2007 that "If ADHD was a complete deviation away from normal brain development, you'd expect the sequence to be completely disrupted," "It wasn’t. So we think this is pretty strong evidence that ADHD is more of a delay in brain development" (P. Shaw, personal communication, November 10, 2007)
"These children should arguably grow out of ADHD," which is very optimistic news for parents of children with ADHD or people who work wth children with ADHD.
But the kids, mainly, do NOT grow out of it. Does "delay" mean that the condition is only temporary? Apparently it must mean something else -- ?
ReplyDeleteHi Dovid:
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting.
Researchers have questioned whether or not there is a delay in the brain maturation of children with ADHD or whether children with ADHD are characterized by a total difference in typical brain development.
In a study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Shaw et al. (2007) found, in groundbreaking research, “that in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed three years in some regions, on average, compared to youths without the disorder.”
The areas of the brain that reflect difficulties for children with ADHD are those that control self-regulation in their thinking, attention, and planning, which I believe, affects not only academics but social skills as well. Therefore, the maturation of the brain is quite normal, but merely delayed, which should assure teachers and parents alike that these children’s symptoms should diminish as they mature because at some point, the child will have normal brain maturation.
This new information should offer teachers and parents great optimism concerning the academic prognosis of children with ADHD.
If your child is 13 years old and has ADHD, he therefore, due to the developmental nature of ADHD, may be behaving more like a 10 year old. What does this mean for parents and teachers? We all have to change our expectations for these children's behavior, for one thing, as well as changing our expectations concerning how these children plan their academic work, how and if they inhibit anything that interferes with their work as well as how they execute their work.
The research does not as yet explain why some adults have ADHD, but we cannot expect all of the answers at the same time!
If you would like to read the research article, I will send it to you if you give me your email address.