Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Researchers trying to uncover the mechanisms that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder have found an abnormality in the brains of adolescent boys suffering from the conditions, but not where they expected to find it.
Pediatricians are diagnosing and treating a growing number of children with behavioral health problems. However, they do not always feel comfortable or sufficiently trained to fill this new role, according to a new study. The study involved interviews with community pediatricians who estimated that an average of about 15 percent of the children they see have behavioral health problems. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral health disorder seen by pediatricians, she said. The pediatricians ''expressed a high level of comfort with the diagnosis and frequently or occasionally prescribed stimulants'' to treat it.
The results announced in the International Journal of Psychophysiology this month show a link between neurofeedback training and improved memory in a 40 person trial. Dr David Vernon, from Imperial College London at the Charing Cross hospital says: "Previous research has indicated that neurofeedback can be used to help treat a number of conditions including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, epilepsy and alcoholism by training particular aspects of brain activity, but this is the first time we have shown a link between the use of neurofeedback, and improvements in memory." Neurofeedback is a learning procedure that has been involved in treatments enabling participants to normalize behaviour, stabilize mood and improve their cognitive performance. It works by allowing people to watch their brain activity, and through this, find a way to correct or improve it.
Researchers in Los Angeles have localized a region on chromosome 16 that is likely to contain a risk gene for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the most prevalent childhood-onset psychiatric disorder. The scientists say their finding suggest that the suspected risk gene may contribute as much as 30 percent of the underlying genetic cause of ADHD and may also be involved in a separate childhood onset disorder, autism.
