CNN: "Your Brain on Multitasking"By Sanjay Gupta, MD2 min, 1 sec.Dr. Gupta explains in this video why effective multitasking is a myth for the vast majority of us. When you are working on activity A and then begin to work on activity B, attention is diverted away from activity A to activity B (so you are not doing both at once), slowing down your speed and quality on both tasks. Even though you can switch very quickly from one to the other, your bandwidth decreases so you're doing the two tasks less effectively than if you were only focusing on one at a time. He references a study that shows that when you look at the brain activity of someone who is driving, adding paying attention to something you are listing to will decrease the bandwidth for driving by 37%.He acknowledges that 2% of the population are genetically gifted and able to multitask. But if you think you're one of them, you're probably wrong. Because he also points out that people who think they're the best at multitasking actually are usually the worst.
ADHD Diagnosis Can Double Risk of Premature Death, Researchers Say
While the statistic in the headline and in the article itself are certainly alarming, I think the most important thing to take away from it is that ADHD is a real condition with very real consequences, especially when left untreated. However, proper treatment can make a big difference with what happens on an individual level.As the article goes on to say, "Although talk of premature death will worry parents and patients, they can seek solace in knowing the absolute risk of premature death at an individual level is low and can be greatly reduced with treatment."It’s also worth noting that more than more than half of adults with ADHD also have a second co-occurring condition, such as anxiety, depression, or substance abuse. These carry their own risk factors and are important to treat as well. For many, an integrative approach including medication, cognitive behavior therapy, exercise, nutrition, etc, works best.
Students do worse on quizzes when they use keyboards in class
"To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand: Students do worse on quizzes when they use keyboards in class."Written by Robinson Meyer for The Atlantic, May 1 2014.It seems the pen is mightier than the keyboard. At least when it comes to taking notes. As the article explains, “A new study—conducted by Mueller and Oppenheimer—finds that people remember lectures better when they’ve taken handwritten notes, rather than typed ones."They point out that laptop notetakers tend to take verbatim notes, whereas with handwritten notes it's almost impossible to write down everything that's said. So in one phase of the study they warned subjects in advance, explicitly telling them not to take verbatim notes because it may hinder recall. And guess what?"Knowing how and why typed notes can be bad doesn't seem to improve their quality. Even if you warn laptop-notetakers ahead of time, it doesn't make a difference. For some tasks, it seems, handwriting’s just better."And what happens if you let people study from their typed notes before quizzing them?"If someone took verbatim notes on their laptop, then studying seemed more likely to hinder their performance on the quiz."Many of the patients I work with find that handwriting notes during meetings (including therapy sessions) or classes also helps them maintain focus in addition to improving recall.If you would like to read more about the study, you can read about it in The Atlantic by clicking here.
NY Times: A Natural Fix for ADHD
A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.By Richard A. FriedmanPrinted in the New York Times Oct. 31, 2014This recent article from the New York Times talks about possible reasons why ADHD is such a common diagnosis (affecting 11% of American children) and how important choosing the right career is to help reduce the impact ADHD has on one's life (and even using some of the symptoms to their advantage).A few interesting quotes from the article include:
- "...people with A.D.H.D are walking around with reward circuits that are less sensitive at baseline than those of the rest of us. Having a sluggish reward circuit makes normally interesting activities seem dull and would explain, in part, why people with A.D.H.D. find repetitive and routine tasks unrewarding and even painfully boring."
- “Consider that humans evolved over millions of years as nomadic hunter-gatherers. It was not until we invented agriculture, about 10,000 years ago, that we settled down and started living more sedentary — and boring — lives. As hunters, we had to adapt to an ever-changing environment where the dangers were as unpredictable as our next meal. In such a context, having a rapidly shifting but intense attention span and a taste for novelty would have proved highly advantageous in locating and securing rewards — like a mate and a nice chunk of mastodon.”
There is a lot of good information in the article and it is definitely worth a read.http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/a-natural-fix-for-adhd.html
Music: Sound Medicine for ADHD
"Music: Sound Medicine for ADHD (Parents, take note: music therapy builds better focus, self-control, and social skills in kids with attention deficit.)"by Anni Layne RodgersThis is an brief article on how music affects the brain and how it relates to ADHD and ADHD treatment. It's light on details, but interesting nonetheless.http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/9558.html
The "Un-Schedule" as a strategy for successful time management
Podcast: "The 'Un-Schedule' as a strategy for successful time management"Host: Tim Pychyl, PhDProcrastination researcher and podcaster Tim Pychyl describes the "un-schedule," a way of planning out your week that I often use in my own life and with clients. In general, the whole series of podcasts from Dr. Pychyl are excellent.
Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain
"Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain"The New York TimesBy Daniel J. Levitin, Aug 9, 2014This article describes the brain's attentional system, breaking it down into 2 parts; the focused mode (which he calls the "central executive") and "daydreaming mode." The attentional filter is a third component determines when we need to be using the central executive or when it is safe to ignore what's going on around us and daydream.They indicate summer vacations, and taking breaks in general, are an important way to hit the reset button on the brain and allow the daydreaming system to take over. The daydreaming system is important because:"This brain state, marked by the flow of connections among disparate ideas and thoughts, is responsible for our moments of greatest creativity and insight, when we’re able to solve problems that previously seemed unsolvable. You might be going for a walk or grocery shopping or doing something that doesn’t require sustained attention and suddenly — boom — the answer to a problem that had been vexing you suddenly appears."They go on to say that multitasking fatigues the attentional filter. While not an article about ADHD, the recommendations echo those given for adults with ADHD to help cope with distractibility. In particular, focus on a single task for relatively short block of time instead of jumping from email, to Facebook, to a report, to whatever. The author recommends 30-50 minutes, but people with ADHD may find shorter periods more effective. The harder the task is to start or focus on, the shorter the block.To read the full article, use the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/opinion/sunday/hit-the-reset-button-in-your-brain.html
NY Times: "Exercising the Mind to Treat Attention Deficits"
Exercising the Mind to Treat Attention DeficitsBy Daniel Goleman, New York Times, May 12, 2014This article published in the New York Times earlier this month has gotten a lot of attention from my patients and colleagues. I have provided a few quotes below but you can find the full article here."Poor planning, wandering attention and trouble inhibiting impulses all signify lapses in cognitive control. Now a growing stream of research suggests that strengthening this mental muscle, usually with exercises in so-called mindfulness, may help children and adults cope with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder""According to a recent report in Clinical Neurophysiology, adults with A.D.D. were shown to benefit from mindfulness training combined with cognitive therapy; their improvements in mental performance were comparable to those achieved by subjects taking medications.""Mindfulness seems to flex the brain circuitry for sustaining attention, an indicator of cognitive control, according to research by Wendy Hasenkamp and Lawrence Barsalou at Emory University."But if medications also work, why bother with mindfulness?"In a large study published last year in The Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers reported that while most young people with A.D.H.D. benefit from medications in the first year, these effects generally wane by the third year, if not sooner.'There are no long-term, lasting benefits from taking A.D.H.D. medications,' said James M. Swanson, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, and an author of the study. 'But mindfulness seems to be training the same areas of the brain that have reduced activity in A.D.H.D.'"
Learning to Drive with ADHD
This 2 min, 18 sec video from NBC news looks at the relationship between ADHD and teen driving. Teens with ADHD are 2-4x more likely to have an accident than their non-ADHD peers. But they also go over some common-sense techniques people are using to increase safety.
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How running 'may preserve thinking skills'
BBC reports "Activities that maintain cardio fitness - such as running, swimming and cycling - led to better thinking skills and memory 20 years on" ... "even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol."The article goes on to say, "People who had smaller time differences in their treadmill test 20 years later were more likely to perform better on the executive function test than those who had bigger differences."Exercise has many benefits, and one I've seen over and over again with my ADHD patients is how exercise can help reduce restlessness and improve concentration and focus. Some find that the time exercising is made up for by the improved productivity during the rest of the day.http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26841988