This is very important research. You can read about it here.

If you or anyone you know may be interested in participating in this research, do contact them right away to see if you can participate.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

©2012 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Brain, Detroit, Windsor

Brainwaves are measured using an EEG – or electroencephalograph.

Understanding brainwaves in ADD/ADHD is exciting because of new research coming out about Neurofeedback and LENS in ADHD treatment. These treatments will be discussed in upcoming articles on this blog.

We now know that when children with ADD/ADHD are fully engaged in an activity their brain wave function remains at a lower levels. In children without disorder, the brain waves reach beta waves. And this makes all the difference in the behavior and the level of attention.

The brain is capable of producing four different frequencies of waves. The highest frequency is the beta – that’s what we use when we’re busily caught up in an activity that truly interests us. And that’s the brain wave that doesn’t necessarily appear for those with ADD/ADHD

The second highest is the alpha wave which is what you’re experiencing when you have just completed a task and you sit down to rest. When you sit down to reflect or meditate you start experiencing alpha waves. Taking a leisurely stroll through a garden also induces this state.

The third type of brain wave is the theta, which is dominant in our brains when we perform repetitious tasks. The repetition can be defined in any number ways. Even driving the same stretch of freeway on your commute to work every day can create these waves in your brain.

And that brings us to the slowest brain wave, the delta. This is the wave that dominates when we experience a good deep – and dreamless – sleep. These are also the same brain waves that are produced in abundance when you reach that trance like state in meditation.

A quick review:
Beta waves: Alert and attentive
Alpha waves: Relaxed/day dreaming
Theta waves: Drowsiness
Delta: Deep sleep.

In coming articles, we’ll cover how the approaches of Neurofeedback and LENS can work with the brainwaves to improve functioning for people with ADD/ADHD.

Best,

Dr. Kenny

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, brain waves, neurofeedback, LENS

©2012 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.

Could it be that in addition to the differences in how the brains of those with ADD/ADHD act, there may be also a fundamental difference in the shape of this organ as well?

This research, just published in the online edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry, shows actual differences in the shapes of boys’ brains with ADD/ADHD. Why is this even important? This knowledge may eventually help to locate the specific neural circuits that are involved in this disorder.

Staff from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore and the Johns Hopkins Center for Imaging Science used a new tool in this project. It’s called a large deformation diffeomorphic mapping (LDDMM) tool, providing them with a very accurate shape of the basal ganglia. Previous research only looked at the volume of the basal ganglia, but was not able to actually determine shape differences. This area of the brain is located deep within either hemisphere of the organ.

Not only did the boys with ADD/ADHD have a significant difference in the shape, but also noticeably smaller volume of the basal ganglia as well. Curiously, girls’ brains revealed no differences. This evidence suggests, the researchers explain, that sex influences the way ADD/ADHD is expressed.

The study viewed the brains of 47 children with ADHD as well as a control group of 66 youngsters, all between the ages of 8 to 13 years old.

These results are exciting because they are building on the growing research which shows that the shape of some parts of the brain may play a factor in this disorder. In fact, the research involves the first reported shape abnormality of the basal ganglia.

Researchers explain that this is only the beginning of the research into this area. The next phase, they explain, is to examine whether these differences in the brain can actually predict certain behavioral symptoms of ADD/ADHD. Possible future studies could include examining the structural features that are associated with compensating and responding to therapy.

To read the entire article click here.

Dr. Kenny

Technorati Tags: ADD, ADHD, Brain Imaging, Basal Ganglia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Brain

©2012 ADD ADHD Blog.com. All Rights Reserved.