Hi. So today I wanted to talk a bit more about the why and how of the ADHD brain. Again, understanding how our brains are wired is an important step to managing our symptoms, and also accepting the way we are, and learning how to live with it.

We also recognise that the why is important too. Upon diagnosis, either by ourselves or through a psychiatrist. We often want to know the why, and I think it's a fair question to ask really. If we look at brain differences, while the research in this matter is open to debate and is continuously being explored further, the largest study to date used MRIs of different regions of the brain. And the study found that multiple regions of the brain, for example, the hippocampus was smaller in people with ADHD. The differences were shown to be more pronounced in children but shrunk in adults.

Scientists have also observed that levels of dopamine are different in people with ADHD than those without. So thinking of dopamine, you may have heard of it for it's known as the feel-good neurotransmitter. Oversimplified dopamine is a chemical that acts as a messenger between neurons in the brain. It's released when your brain is expecting a reward.

There are medications for treating ADHD, which work by increasing dopamine levels to stimulate focus. These are usually stimulants. Dopamine plays a key role in helping you feel calm and focused. And if you have low dopamine levels, you might feel anxious or have trouble concentrating or feel less motivated to get things done.

So let me give an example about dopamine, maybe as a better way of explaining that. So let's say my favourite comfort food is crisps. My brain may increase dopamine levels when I see them on the kitchen table. When I eat them, I get a release of dopamine that reinforces the craving for the food and increases the focus on satisfying the craving in the future. You can see the cycle of motivation, which is to eat the food. The reward is eating the food, and then the reinforcement; the food was really tasty.

Now, let's imagine that I've really wanted crisps all weekend. But I get home to find that my wife ate them all. My disappointment might lower my dopamine level and dampen my mood. That might also intensify my desire for crisps. Now I want them even more. We can use this example to explain why having low levels of dopamine might make you less able to focus on a task. Low dopamine leads to less motivation, i.e. to do the task, less reward by getting it done, and less reinforcement, such as like I completed the task, good job well done, Steve. So I hope that helps you to understand the dopamine aspect a bit.

If we look at genetics, and the why's. Why some people have ADHD is currently not fully known. There's some interesting research still ongoing, but current research points to a mixture of genetic and environmental factors. Many studies of genes associated with the uptake of dopamine have been promising and have shed some light on some interesting data.

The American National Institute of Health carried out a massive study in 2012 that found at least 1/3 of couples where one parent has ADHD, will have a child who will also be diagnosed with ADHD. Many of Stimuli's users are parents who have discovered that they have ADHD after a child has been diagnosed. That's pretty common. I see that quite a lot in my practice. However, it's important to know that a single definite genetic cause is not yet known for ADHD.

Environmentally speaking, some activities have been considered risk factors for developing ADHD. In Gabor Maté's amazing book, scattered minds, which had a huge impact on me personally, he often talks about not just that ingredient of genetic load in but often being some other ingredient, environmental ingredient maybe. And he pointed to his own early life trauma of being taken from his birth parents as a baby for safety reasons, for a number of months, and how that may have also impacted heavily. So there could be a whole multitude of environmental factors impacting, premature birth too is considered to be, there's some research linking the two as well as smoking during pregnancy. Of course, this is just really scratching the surface when it comes to brain chemistry and ADHD.

I hope that's been helpful to you and that you've understood some of that. Don't forget, you can re-listen to these audios at any time. It's difficult giving the most important details whilst keeping it concise. And in reality, I could talk for hours about the fascinating research being done into learning more about ADHD in the brain. However, if you are interested in learning more and want to go deeper, all the studies I've referenced in this audio episode will be in Stimuli to be accessed anytime you like. Hope that's helpful.