While there's no known specific cause for ADHD, varying dopamine levels, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the brain can contribute to the severity of its symptoms.
It has been proposed that ADHD is a polygenic disorder due to the additive effect of genes affecting dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, GABA, and other neurotransmitters (eg, see Comings et al 2000).
ADHD was the first disorder found to be the result of a deficiency of a specific neurotransmitter — in this case, norepinephrine — and the first disorder found to respond to medications to correct this underlying deficiency. Like all neurotransmitters, norepinephrine is synthesized within the brain.
If your child has ADHD, they may be low in dopamine but high in something called dopamine transporters. That's because their low dopamine may actually result from having too many of the transporters that take dopamine out of their brain cells.
The onset of attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) in childhood is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. A chronic deficit of serotonin (5-HT) at the synapse may trigger symptoms of ADHD.
Hormonal Effects on ADHD
The loss of estrogen leads to a decrease in serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain. Women going through perimenopause report moodiness, sadness, irritability, fatigue, fuzzy thinking, and memory lapses. These may be more pronounced in women with ADHD.
Low levels of dopamine can make you feel tired, moody, unmotivated and many other symptoms. Treatments are available for many of the medical conditions linked to low dopamine levels.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do.
Key aspects of the reward system are underactive in ADHD brains, making it difficult to derive reward from ordinary activities. These dopamine-deficient brains experience a surge of motivation after a high-stimulation behavior triggers a release of dopamine.
Dopamine is what tells ADHD brains to sit up and pay attention to what's going on, and without a sufficient level, attention, memory, and motivation may begin to slip. A person with ADHD may feel chronically unsatisfied, bored, or unhappy if the condition is not properly managed.
You can inherit genes that boost risk for ADHD from your mother, from your father or from both parents. In a recent Norwegian study, inherited risk was somewhat higher when a child's mother had ADHD compared to their father, but researchers weren't certain why that would be.
These may include hyperfocus, resilience, creativity, conversational skills, spontaneity, and abundant energy. Many people view these benefits as “superpowers” because those with ADHD can hone them to their advantage. People with ADHD have a unique perspective that others may find interesting and valuable.
Sugar and other high carb foods boost dopamine levels in the brain, leading us to crave them more often when dopamine levels are low. Since children with ADHD have chronically low levels of dopamine, they are more likely than other children to crave and eat sugary or carbohydrate-heavy foods.
Causes of ADHD
Recent studies link genetic factors with ADHD. In addition to genetics, scientists are studying other possible causes and risk factors including: Brain injury. Exposure to environmental risks (e.g., lead) during pregnancy or at a young age.
Many people think that ADHD is a result of trauma, but is it true? The answer is yes, but more for some people than others. The truth is that 90% of the time ADHD is not caused by trauma, but if the trauma is extreme enough, it can cause severe ADHD-like symptoms.
Stimulants are the best and most common type of medication used to treat ADHD. There are only two stimulant medications, methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin, Concerta and other formulations) and amphetamine (the active ingredient in Adderall, Vyvanse and other formulations).
Some signs that you might be understimulated include: Lack of motivation. Physical hyperactivity. A sense of unease, making you feel "flat" or irritable.
It happens when an ADHDer is hyper-sensitive to the sensory information their brain receives, causing them to experience certain sensations more intensely or longer than normal. This leads to overstimulation and a “fight or flight” response, which may affect how a person functions daily.
Does ADHD affect IQ? A popular misconception is that all children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are naturally smarter and have a higher IQ than children without ADHD. However, there is no correlation between this condition and intelligence.
Though brain scans cannot yet reliably diagnose ADHD, some scientists are using them to identify environmental and prenatal factors that affect symptoms, and to better understand how stimulant medications trigger symptom control vs. side effects.
While all kinds of people can fall in love, the experience of people with ADHD falling in love can be more intense for them. This is because the person with ADHD can hyperfocus on the person they are in love with.
What are the signs of a lack of serotonin and dopamine? Deficits in serotonin and dopamine can cause a host of signs and symptoms, including depressed mood, fatigue, lack of motivation, decreased sex drive, and difficulty concentrating.
Over time, meth destroys dopamine receptors, making it impossible to feel pleasure.
Although both methamphetamine and cocaine increase levels of dopamine, administration of methamphetamine in animal studies leads to much higher levels of dopamine, because nerve cells respond differently to the two drugs.