Children with ADHD experience one or more neuropsychological impairment of functions such as concentration, memory, impulse control, processing speed or ability to follow directions.  These impairments are no different from those caused by head injury or neurological disease.  It has been standard practice for trauma or neurology patients to go through cognitive rehabilitation to restore functioning.  Recently, research has shown that children with ADHD may also experience improvement in neuropsychological functioning through a similar process.  Also, this procedure is now being recommended for middle age adults to improve and/or maintain cognitive functions as the progress into later stages.

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Recently, meditation has been featured in Newsweek as a way to help kids to calm down and focus.

For years it was thought that each of us was born with a generous supply of brain cells, but that we were unable to produce additional cells or make changes in how they function. Fairly recently, neuroscientists discovered the presence of something called “neuroplasticity” which enables the brain to actually grow additional cells or modify the function of existing cells.

Amazingly, cognitive exercises have been found to produce desired changes in not only how the brain works, but how it looks. What this means for parents is that you now have the ability to work with your child to help improve their ADHD symptoms.

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There is some new, fascinating cutting edge research that says that kids with ADHD have different brain patterns than those without. Pictures have been taken of the human brain that clearly demonstrate the difference in cortex thickening between those with ADHD and a control group, and significant differences were found.

Do kids with ADHD fully catch up in development as adults? The answer awaits further studies with older children and young adults. Should imaging be used in the diagnosis of ADHD? The answer is “no.” This should be used for research only, even though they are being promoted to concerned parents. Currently, imaging studies lack diagnostic precision and can lead to false positive as well as false negative results, which may cause improper— and potentially harmful—approaches to treatment.

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