Abstract
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which patients present inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The etiology of this condition is diverse, including environmental factors and the presence of variants of some genes. However, a great diversity exists among patients regarding the presence of these ADHD-associated factors. Moreover, there are variations in the reported neurophysiological correlates of ADHD. ADHD is often treated pharmacologically, producing an improvement in symptomatology, albeit there are patients who are refractory to the main pharmacological treatments or present side effects to these drugs, highlighting the importance of developing other therapeutic options. Different non-pharmacological treatments are in this review addressed, finding diverse results regarding efficacy. Altogether, ADHD is associated with different etiologies, all of them producing changes in brain development, leading to the characteristic symptomatology of this condition. Given the heterogeneous etiology of ADHD, discussion is presented about the convenience of personalizing ADHD treatment, whether pharmacological or non-pharmacological, to reach an optimum effect in the majority of patients. Approaches to personalizing both pharmacological therapy and neurofeedback are presented.
Highlights
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) presenting with inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
We study a particular variation of the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene, a variable tandem repeat region (VNTR) in the 30 region of the gene, finding articles supporting a role of this polymorphism in ADHD, as well as works failing to find an association between this VNTR and ADHD
It is noteworthy that a number of studies have been published regarding neurophysiological correlates of ADHD through quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG), there are still some differences in the results reported by different authors
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) presenting with inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. It can be classified in three subtypes, depending on the intensity of the symptoms: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive–impulsive, and combined [1,2]. While most studies address ADHD in children from 7 to 17 years old, it is important to outline that this condition is present in adults. It has been proposed that the number of adults with ADHD has increased over the last 20 years. A part of this increase is due to the permanence of ADHD symptoms in the adult age in 76% of diagnosed patients. ADHD implies important challenges for academic, personal, and job performance [4]
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