Recent research evaluated the motor skills of 36, eight to twelve year old boys (12 with ADHD, 12 with Asperger Syndrome and 12 typically developing peers). The Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle Signs was used to evaluate the boys and the following was examined: 1) total speed of timed activities, 2) total overflow, and […]
The American Journal of Occupational Therapy published research on the use of stability balls in the classroom. Eight children who were highly likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were observed 3x/week for 12 weeks while using stability balls in the classroom. When the data was analyzed it revealed that while using the stability balls […]
Through the use of magnetic resonance imaging, a recent study indicated that 13 preschool children (ages 4-5) with ADHD had smaller volumes in the caudate nucleus than 13 preschool children without ADHD. The caudate nucleus is associated with learning, memory and motor control. In addition, the caudate volumes were significantly correlated with parental reports of […]
A recent study published in Neurology compared 25 boys and girls with ADHD and 25 boys and girls without ADHD. All of the children were right handed. They were asked to perform left handed finger tapping. Using video and a recording device measuring finger movements, the children with ADHD exhibited more mirror overflow movements with […]
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has published a paper entitled Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function. This paper provides an overview on executive function and how it develops in children. Executive functions include working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive or mental […]
A recent blog post at the Eidie Neurolearning Blog discusses research from Germany on rewards for boys with ADHD. This small study indicated that impulsivity was significantly reduced when rewards (monetary or social ) were incentive to complete a task. It is discussed that if impulsivity can be reduced so greatly based on motivation, perhaps […]
Behavioral and Brain Functions, an open source journal, recently published research on the effects of white noise on 51 school aged children. The results indicated that playing white noise during school helped to significantly improve the attention spans of normally inattentive students. On the other hand, the students who were normally attentive showed a significant […]
Recent research in the Journal of Attention Disorders states that a Western diet may be linked to ADHD. A Western diet was described as high in take out food, confectioneries, processed, fried and refined foods. A healthy diet was described as a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and fish. Almost 1800 […]
Current Opinions in Psychiatry published a review of motor coordination and emotional-behavioral problems in children. The author begin by discussing measurement issues with regards to developmental coordination disorder (DCD) i.e. lack of specific definition of exactly how much a child needs to be delayed to get a diagnosis of DCD and lack of consistant terminology […]
An interesting study was published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics on teacher’s assessment of inattentive symptoms. Three groups of children were followed: 27 first graders, 24 fourth graders and 28 first through fourth graders with a diagnosis of ADHD. The children were rated twice (12-14 months apart) on their inattentive symptoms by […]