How is an ADHD brain different than a normal brain?
In: Biology
Physically, brains of people who have ADHD are generally smaller then brains of those without ADHD. An interesting finding showed that the hippocampus and amygdala (two parts of the brain) were generally smaller with people who have ADHD. These are the parts of the brain responsible for emotional processing and impulsivity. While the brain can be smaller, it does not affect intelligence in any way.
Doesnt produce as much dopamine, the neurotransmitter for interest and motivation. We’re not hyperactive becuase we have more energy; it’s because we have to be more active to feel the same amount of stimulation. So we often find it easier to focus on boring tasks when we listen to music, or absentmindedly fidget or doodle or even, for some, when we’re in mild pain becuase those things provide stimulation. Activities that dont provide enough stimulation cause us negative emotions not just because of the activity itself but often becuase guilt becomes associated with it too which feeds the cycle of procrastination.
While we continually fail to do simple tasks we tend to be calm in emergencies. Because well, emergencies are very exciting. That’s stimulation. I kinda believe we just need to have exciting lives.
We can experience intense and rapid mood swings and sleep problems which is why ADHD and bipolar disorder are sometimes misdiagnosed as each other, especially in women. I’m not sure exactly how that is with the brain chemistry but, you know, as my experience it just feels like my mood depends whether I’m getting enough stimulation. I cant sleep if I’m not satisfied, you know? And I’m never satisfied. The feeling of not having enough dopamine is like restless and apathetic at the same time. It’s just i just wish a meteor would strike my house because then something would be happening. Sometimes I just lay on my bed and feel like that and nothing is interesting. That’s lack of dopamine.
Conversely, the feeling of having something exciting enough and having dopamine can be euphoric. This is why we develop special interests like autistic people do. It’s about stimulation. If I find a song that makes me wanna get up and go I’m gonna play it until I wear it out. I’m gonna get obsessed with it. I’m gonna memorize all their songs. I’m gonna learn the guitarists’ middle names. This is my thing now.
Which also why we tend be rambley storytellers, because we’re jumping between emotionally charged details. Like I’ll be telling somebody about something that happened at my friend’s house and I’ll go on a tangent about the flowers growing on his fence. I always check on that flower vine. It’s important becuase they’re purple and I love purple. Its color of royalty because it’s hard to mix purple dye but nature makes purple effortlessly. And they’re morning glories. You can make LSD out of morning glories. That’s a fun fact. See, I just did it. I care more about the morning glories than whatever I started the story about because morning glories are one of my things. Most things are boring bullshit but some things give me dopamine so I’m compelled to talk about them.
And it’s possible to have comorbidity with OCD. OCD is not the neat disorder and ADHD is not the messy disorder. People can have both. And some of those people also have Tourette’s. I cant imagine. And I dont understand OCD well enough to write with any authority on but i know both disorders can involve having a very active inner monologue and repeating things to yourself constantly and not being able to control what you’re thinking about and sometimes having intense emotions about specific things that dont make sense.
I dont have sources because this information is cobbled together from stuff other ADHD people have told me and that I’ve read here on reddit and on tumblr so feel free to correct me, but that’s my understanding of it.
ADHD is a diagnosis established in childhood. In people with ADHD they have an improper signaling Inna molecule called dopamine. There is either a lack of improper signaling of dopamine down it’s chemical pathway. This molecule is used in a variety of pathways including memory formation and driving the feeling of happiness. The drugs used in ADHD are ones that mimic dopamine or cause an increase in dopamine to normal levels. A normal brain that has normal levels of dopamine would see drugs such as amphetamines cause an excessive dopamine release and create euphoric effects, but leave long lasting negative side effects.
ADHD is a poor category as it agglomerates different underlying conditions just because they exhibit some common symptoms.
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