A Study Of Attention Deficit Disorder
Nick Saulnier
Nicksaulnier21@gmail.com
http://nicksaulnier21.wordpress.com/about/
Question: Do college students diagnosed with ADD struggle with authority and
does it affect their impending career choice?
Overview:
Defined thoroughly by Webster’s Medical Dictionary, (ADD) Attention Deficit Disorder is a syndrome of
defective learning and disruptive behavior. It is not caused by any underlying physical or mental damage
and has numerous subtypes categorized mostly by symptoms of inattentiveness, hyperactivity and
impulsive behavior. Although ADD can be developed, it’s most often something you are born with. Its
symptoms can be identified in early stages of development and if not treated properly can increase in
severity.
The biggest issue with ADD is that it directly interferes with cognitive development, especially in
children where their brain is just beginning to develop. Cognitive development has been defined as “the
growing ability to filter and suppress irrelevant information and actions in favor of more relevant ones”
(Casey, B.J.). In more simplified terms, its ones strength in prioritizing cognition. This is due to its effect
on the prefrontal cortex, striatum, cerebellum and parietal cortex, all of which ADD impacts significantly.
(Goldman-Rakik, P.S.)
Anatomy:
Experiment done by the NCBI (National Center for
Biotechnology Information)
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) have been limited by small samples or measurement of single brain regions. Since the
neuropsychological deficits in ADHD implicate a network linking basal ganglia and frontal regions,
12 subcortical and cortical regions and their symmetries were measured to determine if these
structures best distinguished ADHD.
METHODS:
Anatomic brain MRIs for 57 boys with
ADHD and 55 healthy matched
controls, aged 5 to 18 years, were
obtained using a 1.5-T scanner with
contiguous 2-mm sections. Volumetric
measures of the cerebrum, caudate
nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus,
amygdala, hippocampus, temporal
lobe, cerebellum; a measure of
prefrontal cortex; and related right-left
asymmetries were examined along
with midsagittal area measures of the
cerebellum and corpus callosum.
Interrater reliabilities were .82 or
greater for all MRI measures.
RESULTS:
Subjects with ADHD had a 4.7% smaller total cerebral volume (P = .02). Analysis of covariance
for total cerebral volume demonstrated a significant loss of normal right > left asymmetry in the
caudate (P = .006), smaller right globus pallidus (P = .005), smaller right anterior frontal region (P
= .02), smaller cerebellum (P = .05), and reversal of normal lateral ventricular asymmetry (P =
.03) in the ADHD group. The normal age-related decrease in caudate volume was not seen, and
increases in lateral ventricular volumes were significantly diminished in ADHD.
CONCLUSION:
This first comprehensive morphometric analysis is consistent with hypothesized
dysfunction of right-sided prefrontal-striatal systems in ADHD.
Hypothesis:



College students with ADD struggle with authority
Some may not even realize it
Issues with authority often motivate ADD students to work for themselves
however having ADD forces them to shy away from that career path
Methods:

Brief survey asking questions that provide subliminal information regarding
authority and it’s connection to ADD (see survey)
Statistical research of ADD:
• On average, there are 1 to 3 children who have ADHD in every classroom of 30 students.
• The rate of emotional development for children with ADHD is 30% slower than their non ADD peers.
For example, a 10 year old with ADHD operates at the maturity level of about a 7 year old; a 16
year old beginning driver is using the decision making skills of an 11 year old.
• 65% of children with ADHD have problems with defiance, non-compliance and other problems with
authority figures, including verbal hostility and temper tantrums.
• 25% of students with ADHD have other serious learning problems in one or more of these areas: oral
expression, listening skills, reading comprehension, and math.
• Half of all ADHD students have listening comprehension problems.
• About one-third of these students have one or more of the following:
1. Language deficits (poor listening comprehension, poor verbal expression, poor reading comprehension)
2. Poor organizational skills
3. Poor memory
4. Poor fine motor skills
• Students with ADHD are two to three times more likely to have problems with expressive language than
their non ADD peers.
• 75% of boys with ADD are hyperactive; 60% of girls with ADD are hyperactive.
• 40% of children who have ADHD have at least one parent who has ADHD
• 50% of children who have ADHD also have sleep problems.
• Parents of a child who has ADHD are three times as likely to separate or divorce as parents of non-ADD
children
• Teenagers with ADHD have almost four times as many traffic citations as their non-ADD peers.
• Teens with ADHD have four times as many car wrecks and are seven times more likely to have a second
accident.
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•
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21% of teens with ADHD skip school repeatedly.
35% eventually drop out of school.
45% have been suspended.
30% have failed or had to repeat a year of school.
Sources:
Cherkasova, M., Sulla, Erin M., Dalena, Kara L., Pondé, Milena P.,
Hechtman,L., (February 2013), Journal of the Canadian Academy of
Child $ Adolescent Psychiatry
Cassels, Tracy G., (January 2013), American Journal of Family Therapy
http://shaunwill.blogspot.com/2011/02/right-brain-vs-left-brain.html
(Images)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ (2013), US National Library of Medicine
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