There was a study in "Psychology Today", a few years back that said, of the nobel prize winning scientists many of them were proficient with a musical interest, and had diverse outside interests. Of the non-nobel prize winning scientists they only concentrated on one area of study, while ignoring others. This may explain why a multi-disciplinary approach is needed for great discoveries, and that diverse areas of concentration may lead to acquiring such an ability. I do not believe that assuming a stationary position in a desk for hours each day is the best means of brain development. There is a December/2004 "Scientific American" issue on the the brain, that deals with ADD and ADHD, available in local libraries.

It's great that the author is finding the silver lining in the cloud; however, as far as I understand is that the "relationship between dopamine and normal attention and activity is anything but clear. Researchers agree that multiple genes play a role in ADHD, but the estimates range from a half dozen to more than two dozen." I was just reading another genetic link to serotonin production that plays a role in depression (and ADD, interestingly enough) - although the "finding the gene" is the name of the game with the most funding today (so that drug targeting can be more successful). Polymorphisms in gene alleles are definitely a trait produced for genetic selection - and are introduced all the time - the most frequent and widespread being those of the adaptive immune system. So all disease variants can be viewed as having a genetic advantage - the most notorious case being the gene for sickle cell anemia which was selected for its protection against malaria and was selected for in that environment. But, it should be kept in mind that ADD is a symptom of a number of possible causes - sort of like symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome - which we don't have any affirmative diagnostic test - so we label the symptoms to confer to a variety of different disorders. I'm not sure if we could simply call "wide ranging interests" as a diagnosis of ADD. ADD becomes a disorder when it interferes with leading a productive life - for some it is caused by nutrional deficiencies - such as essential fatty acid deficiency during the first 3 years of life. Coming from a life science background, I sometimes think it is an over-diagnosed disorder for the purpose of selling pharmaceuticals. Having said that, if such drugs do confer a better standard of living, then I cannot point a righteous finger at big pharma for providing it.

“Montessori Online” at http://www.montessori.org/

I recently discovered that I have most traits associated with ADD after many years of frustration. I was lucky as a kid because I was treated as "bright" rather than "bad", and was placed in a classroom environment that offered greater flexibility & the opportunity to follow up on my compulsive interests. I managed just fine until grad school, when it became clear that I needed to do something different to cope with the chaotic way I worked (my work habits were great for innovation & creativity, but terrible for finishing projects or following procedure). I found that exercising every single day helped me enormously -- when writing my MA thesis, I worked out between 1-2 hours every morning before starting my academic day. This was necessary for me to be able to focus for the rest of the day. I still need to do this to keep focused at my current office job -- whenever I miss a work-out or two, I mysteriously have recurring concentration problems. I do not take medication, but exercising compulsively helps me enormously.

ADD and exercise: it is interesting to note that exercise's positive influence has also been shown in depression as well as those suffering chronic fatigue syndrome. Exercise is known to influence serotonin levels which are often low in both depressive disorders as well as those with attention deficit - and one hardly needs to have a psychiatric diagnosis to reap its benefits. People who exercise regularly have also shown to have less cognitive decline as they age and even less likely to get alzheimer's - so not only will you will be attentive at the present task at hand - but you're likely to be pretty sharp when many others will be the ones struggling to remember where they lay those damn reading glasses....

Thanks to all, dlb especially, for your valuable feedback. To Shirin, a bit of frindly debate from a fellow life-sciences guy. I agree with you that ADD is too complex to tie entirely to one gene or factor. Behaviour is complex. DRD4 7R is the most prominent factor researchers have found. But it is also the first (and so far only) genetic clue we've discovered about what triggered our species' transformation. Also, researchers note significant functional differences between ADD-diagnosed individuals with, and without the 7R allele. While psychiatrists throw them all in the same "ADD" basket, the ADD caused by factors such as brain injuries is significantly dissimilar to the ADD experienced by those with 7R. People with 7R perform differently on a number of psychological measures compared with their non-7R counterparts. I don't quite agree with some of what you said about all genetic diseases conferring advantages. In many cases, that may be correct. It now appears, for example, the gene for cystic fibrosis spread during the plague - perhaps because people with one copy of the gene (heterozygotes) can resist the plague better. But that example, as well as yours about sickle cell anemia are examples of heterozygous advantage, whereby a person with one "normal," dominant allele and one recessive "disease" allele is better adapted to some environments. In such cases deleterious gene is maintained in the population, but at very low rates. Higher frequencies are prevented because people with two "bad" recessive genes die. And were it not for heterozygous advantage, such alleles would be virtually eliminated. It appears, however, that DRD4 7R behaves as a DOMINANT allele. Selection would act very strongly against such an allele if it were maladaptive. Yet the allele frequencies - as high as 78 per cent in some populations - indicate otherwise. The MAJORITY of people in some populations have this allele - which would not be possible for CF or sickle-cell, and especially not for any dominant deleterious allele. Natural selection is limited in its ability to completely eliminate even the most maladaptive genes. They keep popping up. Just because a gene exists, doesn't mean it is any way adaptive. Every gene is one nucleotide swap away from a royal screw-up. Fortunately, selection usually keeps bad genes at ridiculously low levels, or in cases of heterozygous advantage like CF, slightly higher, but still veeery low levels. 7R looks like it's adaptive at much higher frequencies than other "diseases." Dr. Moyzis found solid evidence of positive selection that's too complex to explain here.

In typical non-diagnosed ADD fashion, I skimmed both parts of this fascinating piece. I've always suspected that my "generalist" rather than "specialist" approach to life must be shared by others, but not having a language to express my far-reaching views as a child was certainly problematic. Now, into my fourth decade, I've managed to complete an undergrad degree, convocating with Distinction - not too shabby for someone who was "average" throughout high school. I do find the exercise component intriguing. Up until a couple of years ago, I was constantly in motion; swinging my legs in class, hopping around, dashing here and there, dancing, bicycling, running, swimming, performing highly active movements in my numerous jobs. I kept my weight in check, my heart rate low and my blood sugar stable (as long as I remembered to eat every three or four hours). The genetic component certainly could be regarded as a strength rather than a detriment; as a "speedy" culture, perhaps we need to honour those whose world view takes in the big picture, focusses on a single aspect and slows everyelse down. As a wonderful Jamiacan nurse told me years ago: "What's your hurry, girl? You slow down now."

Don - I'm always up to learning more and love delving into scientific speculation. Are you a scientist by trade? Some of my colleagues and myself are intent on launching a "scientifique cafe" forum (modelled after the Philosopher's cafe) for such talk of science, society and everything in between - and this topic would certaily be food for thought - or caffeine for the CNS. I think we agree upon the fact that genetic variation is a phenomenon that exists for the purpose of offering a selective advantage under pressure from the environment of the time for those who have the favourable phenotype variable. However, as you mentioned, behaviour is complex - and neuronal regulation of neurotransmitter signalling even more so - as the whole circuit board works on a feedback mechanism of which the dopamine receptor is only one player - so to say: "But it is also the first (and so far only) genetic clue we've discovered about what triggered our species' transformation." is quite a huge leap - and a claim I find hard to swallow since we aren't anywhere near defining either the complexety of our genetic makeup or what accounts for species' transformations. Furthermore, chromosome 11 is notorious for its linkage to various disorders (see http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Omim/getmap.cgi?d4658 for the genes clustering your receptor of interest) - given that a gene that doesn't have a particularly strong selective advantage either way may be selected by virtue of linkage to clustering genes that do have a stronger selective pressure. So I'm not sure if anything can be deduced by the fact that the " MAJORITY of people in some populations have this allele". But the point raised about blanket diagnosis of a group of behavioural characteristics as being "ADD" has to be looked at more carefully for a less subjective assessment of the disorder - possibly via genetic biomarkers. Having said that, mayhap the evidence cited for an evolutionary advantage could be linked to the mating habits of the ADD afflicted - it is possible one mate simply didn't hold their attention long enough before they went wandering for someone else to focus their short term attention on ;)

I think this whole piece is best summed up when Dee says that when he tells his friends he's popping drugs to cure himself, they look at him as if he's 'broken'. No, Dee, YOU decided you were 'broken', and now you're trying to 'fix' yourself with drugs, and that's what's tragic. The very dangerous drug Ritalin works in the same basic way as cocaine -- so maybe more coke, coffee, chocolate and sugar could help bring your brain chemistry back into "balance", too, why not try those? And all of this scientific bafflegab boils down to something very simple and patently obvious: different occurrences in the consciousness can be correlated to different brain chemical events and brain structures. So what? You evidently know enough science to know that a correlation, even a strong one, does not prove causation. Many people I know who get angry turn red-faced at the same time. Does that mean red faces definitively cause anger, or anger definitively causes red faces? Neither, it just means sometimes, for some people, under some conditions, the two can arise together. You're right to raise the idea that this so-called "condition" is just a natural state of being which modern society isn't suitable for. Can't concentrate? Maybe your job sucks and your schooling is boring and the psychological test being given to you is pointless and asinine. Maybe you're the only person sensitive and intelligent enough in your social group to recognize these facts. Maybe it's time for a radical change in your life, to find your passion, to break through to a new level of being and help us re-make this pathetic, corrupt, repressive society. Oh, sorry, I'm losing it, pass me the drugs.

Don, Please let us know how your different medications work out for you. As a reader with innattentive a.d.d.-diagnosed at age 40 I am sympathetic with your challenge, Good luck

Shirin - The science cafe idea is great. Email Terminal City newspaper regarding the launch, and I'll find a way to promote it. Regarding the "[7R] is also the first (and so far only) genetic clue we've discovered about what triggered our species' transformation." quote, what I meant was it is the only gene researchers have yet discovered from the time period when humanity's 'great leap' began. Given the magnitude of the event, I would be surprised if it is the only gene to emerge from this time but this kind of research is still in its infancy. Your linkage, or 'hitchhiking' question is interesting. But the arguement against hitchhiking is this: genetecists use linkage disequilibrium as part of how they calculate the gene's age. Moyzis found 7R's chunk of genetic real estate to be relatively young - 50,00 years old. The 'normal' variant, 4R, and its surrounding 'junk' DNA, is much, much older - 300,000 to 400,000 years old. Why should the junk DNA linked to 7R be a different age than the stuff linked with 4R? There's no reason for 7R to hitchhike while 4R does not. Hitchhiking isn't why 7R is successful. Selection is. So what is the selection force? The idea that ADD may actually be adaptive is so new, it's an open debate amongst researchers right now. Some suggest, as you have, that sexual selection is the case. That is to say, women find ADD men sexier, supposedly because they are promiscuous risk-takers. (Humans have a female-choice mating system, not male-male competition like elk.) Proponents of this theory point to anthropological studies of some of the people noted to have high 7R frequencies. The "fierce" Yanomamo tribe for example. But the idea of me as an aggressive ladies' man couldn't be further from the truth. The people I've met with ADD may sometimes be chatty, but invariably, I find them to be sensitive, thoughtful sorts. Also, the sexual selection theory dismisses women's ADD. It's an idea that has proponents, but no hard evidence or studies. There has, however been at least one paper published on human migration being propelled by 7R. To Anna, I'm off the Ritalin despite it working better than Dexedrine. Ironically, it was because I couldn't keep track of my psychiatrist's appointments.

Thanks for the tip, Dee, for Terminal city and for assisting in the cafes promotion. We were quite taken with some of the topics that involved science and society at some of the Philosopher's Cafe held around town - and an article in The Scientist about the Scientifique Cafe phenomenon that has spread through Europe and some US cities motivated us into starting our own. Dialogue is needed now more than ever.

Coming back to the notorious allele variant - I have to admit I am way out of my field in terms of knowing anything about dopamine receptors and their chronology (heck, I don't even know how one would go about dating genes other than divergence during speciation) - but, as an immunologist, I am familiar with the genes having the highest range of polymorphisms (the MHC molecules for antigen presentation) and genes that actually undergo somatic rearrangement (adaptive immune receptors) - and many of their (and other genes) having multiple alleles occur through gene duplication. As most geneticists are stilled puzzled as to what the function of all our junk DNA serves - we can't rule out the possibility they flank genes to fascilitate recombinant rearrangement or even transposition during meiosis. Additionally, a receptor for a neurotransmitter would likely have more than one overall effect (or phenotype) - and this classically falls back into "you'll find only what you are looking for" category of scientific research. Does everyone having the dominant mutant allele varient have ADD? If not - what confers that phenotype? Is it the ADD phenotype - or another yet unidentified affect that particular allele has that confers a selective advantage (if there truly is one linked directly to that receptor)? Does it bind dopamine differently than the other receptors - with a greater or weaker affinity? How does this affect the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain - such as serotonin - and how does this receptor influence the production of dopamine? Possibly Moyzis has addressed these questions - and I am just ignorant of his findings - but I'm still looking for the pudding with the proof ;) - and I thought I had dreamed up that mating advantage theory in my own twisted little head - who knew it would be a matter of contention among the more knowledgeable....

Shirin - Genes for neurotransmitter receptors can be specific to localized areas of the brain. You could have fabulous dopamine receptors in your prefrontal cortex, but wimpy ones somewhere else. But when you throw drugs into the brain, it gets messy because you can't direct where they go once they're inside you. Hello, side-effects! I think it's another example of humans trying to outsmart nature, and doing a crappy job of it. It's hard to say if everyone with 7R has ADD. But if I were to guess, I'd say no. Every gene to some degree depends on interaction from the environment for expression. As an immunologist, I'm sure you know far more than I do about what triggers expression of genes in cases of things like allergies, or response to pathogens. Some researchers are looking at the effect of prenatal cortisol in the mother's bloodstream as a possible trigger for 7R's gene expression. Cortisol is a hormone released by the mother during times of stress. The idea is perhaps nature prepares a 7R child for a stressful environment outside the womb by triggering the "ADD." That said, it sure seems that 7R is expressed a whole lot, given the millions of ADD diagnoses every year.

Have all you super-intelligent ADD-ers read about the Indigo Children? http://www.indigochild.com As far as I am able to understand, so many are wrongly diagnosed ADD and ADHD.

Another disorder that will cause racing thoughts, lack of significant (or significan't) focus and...what was I saying? Oh yeah, memory issues is a psychiatric illness called Borderline Personality Disorder. Many diagnosed folks test in the upper 2% of tested individuals for IQ, most are "generalists" rather than specialists, and are often dramatic, eloquent and extremely communicative. Often BPD'ers excel both in sciences and in the arts, leading me to surmise that the pathways between the right and left brain may be more developed in these cases. Although the name of the disorder is offputting (to say the least), the "illness" itself is often related to dopamine receptors as is ADD, and is very treatable, although some doctors and therapists may not agree...

having read these offerings, iam once again inspired to write, something that I was lead to believe i could do. I have just gotm my grade 12 certification; it took me over 2 and one half years to get throuhg english twelve and math 10 basic9the easy one with no higher math skills) I was doing algebraic fractions with tri-nomials and it was like my brain froze. the people at continueing education here in town encouraged me to try and handle the trig, because it opens doors and lower math skills don't. i still feel that i wasted half a year trying to master something that my brain just dosen't compute. Had I been encouraged to not persue trig and higher math i might have shaved 1-1.5 years off of the time that it took me to get through there systemn. mind you, if everyone who didn't seem destend to be a great math person was not encouraged to try...then how many more students would it take to float the staffs jobs at cont'.ed' ? The other thing that The foe s in my life do not take into consideration is that I did, once off of those drugs that wouldn't let me think, complete the regular math in three or four months! the last three tests I challenged the tests and still got a B! Why do they paint this sinerio as black? Why do the institutions that are truly responsible for the leading of certain peoples down the road that should not be attempted by some individuals? Why do they blatantly allow bad desisions by some, simply to foster there own egsistance at a job that depends on how many warm bodies they fill there schoolrooms with? I was most deffinately pushed in a certain direction that I should have been warned against going. my english teacher; agreat 'ding-a-ling herself, in rehtrospect, cept trying to get me to focus on the engish problem at hand...thinking back she was more than a teacher, she was both aditor,confidant and what she called a scribe! this was her ufamisam for getting me to think on the right track, start talking and then she would pick out all the 'good' stuff and arainge it for me with note on where it shouild be in the paper that 'I' was writing. I usedto joke with her that she would make a great editer, and why wasn't she doing that job rather than teaching? in tertospect, when she said that I was writing at a first year level, she neglected to say that it had taken me a year to complete whaat two young ladies three months each to complete... I was hoping that my mum had not done the math...she was so prowd of her son that had gotten his grade twelve certification at last. When miss ding-a-ling once more told the crowd, with my mother in it that ' [I] was writing at a first year univercity level.] Ms. ding-a-ling didn't mension that it took me almost two years to do what the realy 'gifted' people did in three months. it was a place that old worn out teachers, or teachers that couldn't cut the grade in 'real' school got to wind their days out here Con'Ed. Where the real smart folk are around for months and the injured or, not so quick ones are around for as long as it takes! Two courses in almost three years, or three to four cources in (6-8 months) a third of the time. it seems to me that I am not stupid, I am however slow, and I have a tendancy to believe that people who are there for my bennifit should guide a person to their best interest, and not encourage them to go in directions not siuted to that indaviduals talents. If i had one thing to change in my lif3 it would be that I had not left GB befor the finnishing of my fourmal education! I believe that I, and the world would have been much better served ahd I had more and better supervision in my brade schooling. Peshaps my 'personality querks would have been spotted quicker there and a new direction could have been taken for me. Direction and foccus seem to be the things that are missing from my life now. And i'm Swimming in indesission.The place they want me to go ian't the way for me. Learning to run an office at 46 when all you've ever done is do a job and then ask for something else to do on the job sight issomething of a drastick change for anyone, far less one with multiple injuries too boot.I AM SCARED TO DEATH of my future and what it entails. i would not wish this fait on any person alive, not even the ones that torment me today...enough...McI

I was diagnosed when i was young with ADHD, actually partly by myself. I used to sit in class and not be able to pay attention very well. I was always too sociable and all that junk. well im 16 now and im happy to say that im proud of my ADHD. I had been taking the medicine(Ritilan) to calm me down till about 14 or 15. The reason i stopped takin it was because when i would go to school, i would feel like a social outcast. I was never very good at talking when i was on the medicine, i felt there was nothing worth talking about and when there was i wouldnt care enough to talk about it. So i since i stopped takin it i feel much better about my social life. I do have times when i know i need it like for homework sometimes but that doesnt bother me since i am not around anyone when i do it. One quick story.. After i hadnt taken the medicine for a while i tried it one day at school and everyone instantly noticed, though it wasnt a good notice. Everyone thought i was depressed though i just didnt feel like talking or nothing worth talking about. Now also i want to leave you with this too that i am able to still concentrate in school just not as well, but well enough to make A's and B's. I must say i hate that feeling of not being sociable and i hope to one day train my self to mix a little of each personality to become attentive yet sociable person, and the medicine is just there just in case and to show me a little of what i need to work for.

A huge problem with the approaches to ADD is what i call the "not-quite-enough-information" condition. Those people who think ADD can be solely handled by medication (including much of the medical profession) suffer from it. But so do the folks who think simple concern and a better diet will address it. ADD is a complex condition with psychological, social and perceptual implications. I have an ADD son. And he was NOT diagnosed by some edgily disciplanarian teacher. There are a battery of proper cognitive and perceptual tests that specialists can administer (none of them are invasive). As someone with a substantial background in perceptual psychology, i spent some time researching ADD before we asked for a recommendation to a specialist - and we found a good one in the lower Mainland. What do I mean by GOOD? Well for one, he explained the gamut of approaches that we, the teachers, and our son could take. These included - but only as one component - medication. WHat was very helpful were the lists of tips and suggestions for how an ADD kid can be handled in the classroom (things like where to seat him, how to help him manage tests and other projects requiring concentration), perceptual tools like a paper cut-out square to frame part of a page (did you know that ADD kids often have a dreadful time discriminating the visual stimuli on crowded pages such as math worksheets?) and other behavioural modification techniques. Over the years we tried the medication very briefly, but because our son was also very anxious, we had to stop that pronto - the Dexedrines and Ritalin totally aggravated that. he is very active in sports, and we limit TV and electronics. Nonetheless, all the good intentions and attempts at self discipline in the world don't change the fact that at times the medication helps - A LOT. Like depression, ADD cannot simply sometimes be shrugged off to the "it's environmental, fix the environment" approach. Our son is now a teenager, and a happy and more productive one. From time to time, he takes microdoses of a new medication called Adderal thtat seems to have none of the previous deleterious side effects but does help him a great deal (as in during final exams for example.) I estimate he takes it 10-15% of the time, not more. Please don't diss those who are trying to address this condition. Those who have never lived with it cannot imagine the effects.

Sorry I wasn't paying attention could you repeat that?

Health Canada warning about ADHD on the CBC website: http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/02/10/ADH D-Adderall050210.html

Dee Hon, how prevalent is 7R in indigenous African populations, whose ancestors didn't participate in the "out of Africa" diaspora?

My grandson was diagnosed with ADHD and oh the troubles he's had to endure. Especially with school. He is presently in an Alt-Ed program in Hamilton and loving it. I have never seen him so gungho to go to school. He wants his education! No doubt about that! He is 16 years old. You would think that in this day and age that it wouldn't have taken so long, eh? Better late than never, I suppose. I e-mailed your article to him and I am glad I came across it. Thank you for providing hope and lived wisdom. Good for you! Congratulations on your success annd I wish you all the very best!
Kindest Regards,
Carol Crocker

Hi, Dee Hon. I asked the question regarding indigenous African populations because I believe that the answer to this questions offers the resolution of your idea that the ADD allele may be responsible for the progress of the human species. Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute, writing in Science magazine (2/13/01) writes: "Large-scale comparisons of human genomes from many individuals are now possible with the emergence of high-throughput techniques for DNA sequence determination. The general picture already apparent from such studies is that the gene pool in Africa contains more variation than elsewhere, and that the genetic variation found outside of Africa represents only a subset of that found within the African continent. From a genetic perspective, all humans are therefore Africans, either residing in Africa or in recent exile." I think your suggestion that any particular gene or allele, existing in "out of Africa" populations is responsible for the progression of the human species in, in all due respect, rather silly. If I am incorrect in this assessment, and I accept your theory, it must follow, then, that contemporary African populations, which are directly related to pre-diaspora populations have not participated in the progress of our species. This is not to suggest, of course, that the ADD allele cannot offer some beneficial cultural advantage.

I just realized that my reasoning might not be so obvious as I thought. So here's more from Svante Paabo: (The Human Genome and Our View of Ourselves. Science magazine 2/13/01) "Knowledge of the genome should foster compassion, not only because our gene pool is extremely mixed, but also because a more comprehensive understanding of how our genotype relates to our phenotype will demonstrate that everyone carries at least some deleterious alleles. Consequently, stigmatizing any particular group of individuals on the basis of ethnicity or CARRIER STATUS (emphasis by t.g.) for certain alleles will be revealed as absurd." The point here, of course, is the extreme genetic variability of contemporary African populations. It should be clear that it is therefore absurd to CELEBRATE "any group of individuals on the basis of .....carrier status..." And this logical error increases (perhaps exponentially) if one claims that a specific allele such as 7R is responsibile for the advancement of the entire human species.

TG, if you're reading the article as a racist statement against Africans, you're misinterpreting it. Humanity's great leap started in Africa. It made humans so successful they spread across the globe like bacteria across a petri dish. The "out of Africa" exodus didn't happen just because a bunch of people got bored and decided to check out the Paris or the Andes. People left Africa because humans got so successful they needed more room.

The first art, jewelery, and relatively advanced tools and weapons debuted in Africa 50,000 years ago. Such advances would later show up in Europe in places like Cro Magnon, then everywhere else Homo Sapiens settled.

It was Africans who started the revolution - they were the only Homo sapiens around at the time. You can debate the degree to which 7R was responsible, but the timing of 7R's explosion coincides with the 'great leap.'

Some African populations still have their 50,000 year-old 7R alleles. The Bantu of South Africa have a 7R gene frequency of about 20 per cent. The Mbuti of Zaire about 16 per cent. The Biaka of Central African Republic have a 7R frequency of 14 per cent.

Other populations, such as the San of South Africa, have no 7R alleles. The same goes for other populations throughout the world - typically cultures which have been settled for the longest periods of time, or have had sedentary lifestyles (agriculture vs. foraging) for longer periods. Researchers believe that in circumstances such as these, 7R is deselected.

The overall picture suggests that in many parts of the world including Africa, 7R is still adaptive.