Concept map (ADHD) by Aysen Davis

ADHD

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 19:00:48 UTC

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has a childhood onset. ADHD affects a child's ability to do quality work or interfering in their social/working interactions. ADHD is split into two different subcategories, Inattention and Motor Hyperactivity/Impulsivity.

Symptoms of Inattention

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 19:34:06 UTC

Common symptoms of Inattention:

Failure to pay close attention to detail

Difficulty organizing tasks and activities

Failing to keep on task

Symptoms of Hyperactivity/Impulsivity

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 19:38:20 UTC

Examples of Hyperactivity/Impulsivity:

Excessive talking

Fidgeting squirming

Getting up when often sitting

Diagnosing

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 19:48:17 UTC

A detailed clinical assessment is required in order to determine if an individual has ADHD and fall into either of its subcategories.

Predominately Inattentive

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 19:51:32 UTC

A child will have to have 6 or more inattention system with a few symptoms hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms.

Predominately Hyperactive/Impulsive

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 19:57:22 UTC

A person must have 6 or more hyperactive or impulsivity symptoms with a few inattentive behaviors.

Combined

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 20:01:11 UTC

A person will have 6 or more symptoms from either category. This is the most common diagnosis for ADHD.

Commonality of ADHD

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 20:53:26 UTC

For ADHD there is no real precise statistics for how many are affected. It is estimated that about 5-7% of children have it and about 1-7% for adults.

Gender Influence??

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 21:00:47 UTC

Boys have increased risk to be diagnosed with ADHD as opposed to girls with a 3-4:1 ratio.

Genetic Influence

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 21:14:51 UTC

There is good evidence that ADHD could possibly be inherited disorder due to a genetic influence.

Evidence

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 21:19:43 UTC

Evidence is as shown:

A twin of a child with ADHD has about a 76% chance of also having ADHD.
There are single nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number variants that are associated with an increased risk for ADHD.
People with a 1st degree relative that have ADHD have a higher risk of developing ADHD.
Candidate genes that may be associated with risk for ADHD overlap with other neurological disorders.

Even though genetics could cause ADHD, no single gene has complete influence over the development of ADHD.

Environmental Factors

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 21:23:53 UTC

Genetics can't take accountability for all ADHD cases. Environmental factors could also shoulder responsibility for the cause of developing ADHD. Though it is hard to say what kind of environmental factors contribute more to ADHD development.

Anatomical Changes

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 22:18:46 UTC

There is evidence showing a reduction in brain volume in patients with ADHD. There are findings of thinning cortical brain regions and especially in the prefrontal cortex. Regions that control attention and motor control can also show a reduction in size.

Physiological changes

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 22:37:41 UTC

There are regions in the brain that are responsible for motor control and attention that have been shown to be hypoactive. These regions are known as:

Reward Network
Fronto-Striatal Network
Executive Function Network
Frontoparietal Attention Network
Frontocerebellar Network.

Treatments

aysendavis — 2025-09-13 22:50:53 UTC

CNS Stimulants (Methylphenidates, such as Ritalin; and Amphetamine based stimulants
such as Adderall)
▪ Increase catecholamine neurotransmitter levels dopamine, norepinephrine,
epinephrine) availability by blocking dopamine and norepinephrine transporters
o Non-stimulant medications (Atomoxetine (Strattera))
▪ Specific Norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor
▪ Mechanisms are not well-understood, but could be a result of increased
norepinephrine levels, particularly in the prefrontal cortex