ADHD gene may be the link to daydreaming

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ADHD gene may be the link to daydreaming A particular gene may cause daydreaming among people with ADHD. (Wes Bausmith / Los Angeles Times)

Share By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times November 16, 2010|8:46 a.m.

E-mail Print Text Size la-heb-adhd-20101116 Attention deficit-hyperactive disorder includes difficulty with mental focus. People describe it as daydreaming or mind-wandering instead of concentrating on the task at hand. Now researchers think they have identified a gene that is responsible for this specific characteristic of the disorder.

People who inherit two copies of a particular form of the gene called DAT1 10 are thought to be at greater risk for developing ADHD than people who inherit another form, called DAT1 9. Researchers found that among people with two copies of DAT1 10 (which the scientists term 10/10 carriers), the brain produces excess amounts of dopamine transporters, which results in less dopamine being available to reach brain cells and pass on a signal. Dopamine is important for acting as a gatekeeper in the transfer of information between regions of the brain.

Functional MRI scans of 38 people found that among the DAT 10/10 carriers, the mind-wandering areas of the brain tended to communicate with regions performing memory tasks more strongly compared with the brain activity seen among the participants who carry one DAT1 9 gene allele and one DAT1 10 allele.

"Dopamine from the 10/10 carriers was not doing a good enough job in preventing the mind wandering regions from interfering with memory performance regions, resulting in less efficient cognition," the lead author of the study, Evan Gordon, of Georgetown University Medical Center, said in a news release.

Being a DAT 10/10 carrier doesn't mean a person has ADHD, Gordon said. But it contributes to one characteristic of the disorder. It's most likely that a number of genes variants cause ADHD.

The study was presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. ?

Related: New research fuels skepticism (and questions) about those ADHD diagnoses.

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E-mail Print Digg Twitter Facebook Read This Later ? Comments (1)Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ MaxPower at 6:03 AM November 17, 2010

All the more reason that "focus" (the ability to reject dsitractions) should be taught, it is a skill and people predisposed to ADD need it that much more.?

Focus has always been accidently taught, unrecognized, in the course of learning other subjects, but it should be recognized and given the status of a critical academic skill that it is. Much like those given to obesity benefit from P.E., leaning to train the mind to focus would be beneficial.? Certain medidative exercises do precisely this, "Mindfulness" is just practicing the rejection of distractions, to think about the present, for force one be aware of Now rather than daydreaming.?

My guess is that the rise in ADD rates may just be a reflection of all the video games, TV, etc. inviting unfocused hyper-stimulated meandering thought, ruining the focus/concentration skill rather than there being any physcal change in the population.

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