Comments on: Delay not deviance: brains of children with ADHD mature later than other

By: Gopi Aravind

Gopi Aravind — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:26:22 +0000

Hey, nice article! One question though. If its a delay but not a deviance, how would this explain Adult ADHD? The other explanation by Dr. Thomase Brown about how ADHD is a result of an impairment of the Executive functions makes sense here.

By: Ali

Ali — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:56:55 +0000

Any research on what happens to kids with both ADD/ADHD and an autism spectrum disorder? If they have opposite effects on cortical maturation, I’m curious how kids with both disorders would look. Or kids who have very high IQs but one or both disorders.

By: jlorraine

jlorraine — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:02:46 +0000

I wish they did speak more about adult ADHD. The studies on adults are inadequate and when more studies come out on children and don’t properly address these issues, it just perpetuates the myth that adults can’t have ADHD. Though it is an interesting article.

By: London Tuition

London Tuition — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:36:37 +0000

I know a lot of experts on dyspraxia (which is a developmental disorder that often co-occurs with ADHD) say that you do not grow out of dyspraxia. They point out that it’s very hard to diagnose dyspraxia early as it is hard to distinguish between dyspraxia and a developmental delay. This therefore raises the interesting distinction between on the one hand showing dyspraxia-like, or indeed ADHD-like, symptoms at a younger age due to a developmental delay and on the other hand actually having dyspraxia or ADHD. The former would therefore ‘grow out’ of the condition whereas the latter would not. I’m not an expert in this field but I would be interested to see if this is a logical distinction.

By: brooks

brooks — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:56:03 +0000

i was diagnosed as ADHD-I (predominantly inattentive type) in college in my mid-20s, and i can testify to the fact that, despite usually testing as “gifted” by one measure or another, i did peak physically, socially, intellectually and academically several years later than most of my peers. my mother recognized early on that i was, as she put it, ‘Young for your age’, though she never keyed in to my absent-mindedness as something out of the ordinary (not surprising, seeing as how my mother shares many of the same traits).
so this study certainly confirms some of my own non-expert observations and suspicions. thanks, Ed!

By: dysTalk - dyslexia, dyspraxia & ADHD

dysTalk - dyslexia, dyspraxia & ADHD — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:47:14 +0000

Really interesting piece. Was there any correlation in the results here between the different typyes of ADHD? i.e. were children more likely to ‘grow out’ of ADHD if they had for instance innattentive type rather than hyperactive impulsive type or vice versa?

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:20:52 +0000

Excellent questions. Lilian and Sci - No info in the paper about medication, but the authors addressed this in a follow-up study. Among adolescents on psychostimulants, they found slower rates of cortical thinning in some parts of the brain (right motor strip, left middle/inferior frontal gyrus, and right parieto-occipital region). Rates were around 5 times slower. However, the authors found no differences in clinical outcomes. Stagyar - the children in this study did eventually catch up with the standard level of development; it just took them longer. No data on adult ADHD.

By: Stagyar zil Doggo

Stagyar zil Doggo — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:07:28 +0000

Any comments on patients with Adult ADD/ADHD in the article? The obvious (and probably wrong) extension of these observations would make them out to be “children who never grew up”.
Comparisons with people who develop Attention Deficits after injury/illness would also be interesting.

By: Scicurious

Scicurious — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:45:49 +0000

Good coverage, Ed! Another question: were these kids medicated, and what were the possible effects of long-term stimulant medication on cortical development? If these kids were medicated, could that be exacerbating the delays, or helping them catch up? How fast do they “catch-up” under normal conditions?

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:40:24 +0000

This is fascinating. Have there been any new developments along these lines or corroboration since you wrote this?