Welcome to the Brainclinics Community!

Nijmegen, March 26th, 2013 – A study published today in Biological Psychiatry sheds new light on the increasing rates (prevalence) of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD. Children with ADHD have problems with inattention, distractibility, disorganization, impulsiveness, and overactivity. This study found that “sunny” regions with high solar intensity, such as the US states of California, Arizona, and Colorado, and countries like Spain and Mexico have lower prevalence of ADHD. An apparent protective effect of sunlight accounted for 34-57% of the variance in ADHD prevalence. The authors speculate that this may be related to sunlight’s effects on preventing circadian rhythm (“biological clock”) disturbances. These results suggest ways to prevent or treat ADHD for a substantial sub-group of patients.

Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep are common symptoms in patients with ADHD, and these sleep complaints are often associated with attention and impulsivity problems, researchers from Utrecht University and research institute Brainclinics conclude in the scientific journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews. The researchers in this article propose a neuro-anatomical model of neurofeedback, where neurofeedback results in falling asleep faster and better being able to maintain sleep, through an effect on so-called ‘sleep spindles’. At the same time, according to another study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders, over the last 10 years the brain activity of healthy children has become ‘drowsier’. This is most likely related to the fact that children sleep less, when compared to 10 years ago.