Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion

Dr. Don Lucas

Dear Dr. Don:

Maybe you can help me understand something I have always been confused about. I take Adderall for my Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I have always been confused as to why I am taking a stimulant (amphetamine) for my inability to pay attention. It makes more sense to me that I should be taking a depressant for my condition not a stimulant.

Signed,
Trying to Pay Attention


Dear Trying to Pay Attention:

This is a good question and one that I get from a lot of my students when they find out my training is in neuropsychology, aka., I supposed to know something about the brain.

Let us begin by talking a little about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Most people with ADHD have no problem paying attention. What they have problems with is paying attention to any one thing for a significant amount of time. And this one thing-99% of the time-is related to academics: reading, writing, listening, taking notes, etc.

To me, this condition would be more aptly named: Inability to Focus (IF). As in, IF I could focus, my grades would be much higher.

When scientists examine the brains of persons suffering from ADHD, they have principally focused on four areas: the corpus callosum, the frontal cortex, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. However, it is difficult to say any of these areas of the brain causes ADHD. In other words, we really do not know what areas of the brain are involved in ADHD. Further, the drugs (stimulants) that are used to most successfully treat ADHD do not focus on any of these areas of the brain.

Instead, treating ADHD with stimulants comes from an old adage about learning and memory in general: The more actively involved you are within an environment, the more you will learn and remember about that environment. This adage directly applies to how the brain works: The more active the brain is, the more it will learn and remember.

Thus, whether you have ADHD or not, the BEST way to learn and create memories is to be actively involved within the environment you happen to be within. This "active" involvement comes from a variety of sources: drugs (caffeine, amphetamine, nicotine), diet (high sugar, low carbohydrates), you yourself (ask questions, take notes, think about how the material relates to you, do jumping jacks), and the environment itself (experiential learning, cooperative learning, service learning).

Signed,
Dr. Don

Got a question? Then, email Dr. Don at dlucas@alamo.edu. Want "more" Dr. Don? Then read his first book, "Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment" available at amazon.com, hmpublishing.com, and the Northwest Vista College Bookstore.

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