Neuroscience approach to ADHD related factors in children and adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuropsychological aspects of cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Although many studies on genetic, environmental, and social causes of ADHD have been made, we sought to clarify the mechanism of ADHD development based on more scientific knowledge. The neuroanatomical factors for ADHD are as follows: Children with ADHD have a reduced volume of structural abnormality or volume and white matter in the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, corpus callosum, and caudate compared with normal children. And neurobiologically, ADHD children and adolescents showed less activity of frontal lobe than normal children in both task memory task and exercise suppression task. In addition, dopamine, a neurotransmitter closely related to the basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex, was overloaded with dopamine receptors in ADHD children and adolescents, indicating that the amount of dopamine actually acting on the brain was small. An analysis of neuroanatomical and neurophysiological factors for ADHD should provide a good understanding of the individual characteristics of ADHD children. It is hoped that children with ADHD will have a good foundation for brain-based education through strengthening brain plasticity and neural networks in the field of education