Cognitive Flexibility and ADHD

In a recent brain study, scientists found that individuals with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) have less brain flexibility than others. This aspect is known as cognitive flexibility which involves the part of the brain which allows for multitasking. For example, if you were someone to do two simple tasks, would you be able to do both without forgetting the other? Clearly, cognitive flexibility is a really important aspect of how our brain functions in our everyday lives. To look into this matter, researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill got 180 children with and without ADHD to undergo an fMRI (functional MRI) scan which showed that the ADHD-afflicted individuals have less neural flexibility than the individuals without ADHD.

But along with this, they also found that the 46 individuals who were on ADHD medications did not show much neural inflexibility like the other individuals. This could also be revolutionary because the effects of ADHD medications would also be understood in the scientific community. Although it is unclear whether this is a cause or effect of ADHD, this breakthrough could possibly be used in order to diagnose ADHD, monitor its effect, and analyze treatment results. Along with this, the idea of cognitive flexibility could also be used in diagnosing and understanding other disorders such as autism.