Your Brain and Your ADD ADHD — ADD Tip O the Day 642

The ADD ADHD mind.

Your Genes

We each have two copies of the serotonin transport gene, SERT, one from each parent.  This gene regulates uptake of serotonin back into the cell.

The gene comes in two flavors, long (L) and short (S). If you’re lucky, you got LL. You are not very sensitive to stress and you’re unlikely to become depressed no matter what happens.  You also have less anxiety.

With SS, you are very likely to become depressed in response to stress.   With LS, you’re in between.

With early childhood stress, the frontal area of the brain does not develop as well.  There is a lack of volume in the areas responsible for controlling response to stress and to unpleasant feelings and for controlling impulses.

If you have SS, you’re more sensitive to stress and this effect on your brain is more profound.

With SS things that are stressful to you will cause a bigger reaction than for your buddy with LL. He might not even find them stressful it all.  On the other hand, if you have ADD ADHD you might be creating more stress in your life.

Your Brain

Recent research shows that those of us with the combination of SS and more stress have less frontal brain volume and more severe ADD ADHD symptoms.  Those with LL have more normal frontal brain volumes and less severe ADHD symptoms, regardless of  stressful life experiences.

With ADD ADHD  there is also less good connection between the regulating frontal areas and the stress responding lower areas (subcortical structures).

For most ADD ADHD children the brain gets more normal with aging.  Stimulants (ritalin, adderall, vyvanse, daytrana, etc.) also change brain structures toward normal in children and in adults.

We have to be careful about confusing cause and effect and remember that  correlation does not prove causation.  But these findings are very suggestive.

Your Input – a request

I welcome comments from everyone but especially invite our scientists to correct any misinformation here.  I don’t claim to really understand this stuff.

doug

Links:

Is this what made you?

“Brain Correlates of the Interaction Between 5-HTTLPR and Psychosocial Stress Mediating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Severity”,van der Meer et al,Am J Pychiatry, August 2015

ADD ADHD brains function differently

Stimulants improve brain structure

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11020281 in case the link doesn’t work)

The ADD ADHD brain is different.

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