Eli5 executive functioning. I have ADHD and want to tie my shoe, and I’m reaching to tie my shoe, but the part.exe that makes me actually tie my shoe doesn’t work?

Question

Eli5 executive functioning. I have ADHD and want to tie my shoe, and I’m reaching to tie my shoe, but the part.exe that makes me actually tie my shoe doesn’t work?

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Answer 1

The brain always searches for an opportunity to make a reward neurotransmitter called dopamine. Normal people produce enough dopamine that they can motivate themselves to complete a task. An ADHD brain doesn’t produce enough dopamine, so the brain’s thought process is: “I’m not getting a reward from this, so I’d better do something else instead.”