Eli5: Since the ADHD brain is developing in an abnormal way, why aren’t scientists trying to surgically fix the brain’s abnormal structure?

Question

Eli5: Since the ADHD brain is developing in an abnormal way, why aren’t scientists trying to surgically fix the brain’s abnormal structure?

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Answer 1

Not every neurodevelopmental disorder is necessarily anatomical as opposed to biochemical.

Surgery would only be effective if the source of the disorder was confined to one brain region, and one operation could solve it – like severing the corpus callosum in an epileptics.

Scientists are still working to discover biomarkers of ADHD, but mostly irregularities in dopamine and noradrenalin function has been studied, as opposed to anatomical brain differences, possibly because the pharmaceutical industry stands to gain more from biochemical research.

There has been some recent research into brain scans of ADHD patients displaying distinct patterns, so you could look into that if you want