## Metadata author:: [[@Huberman Lab]] publish_date:: reviewed_date:: ```dataview TABLE notes FROM "" WHERE file.name = "% 2023-02-20 ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus Episode 37" ``` ## Highlights - Speaker 0: we call anti correlated. So it's not just that they are not correlated. They're actually opposing one another. They are anti correlated In a person with A. D. H. D. The default mode networks and the task networks are actually more coordinated. That might come as surprising. I think that we all have this tendency to kind of jump to conclusion and assume that somebody who doesn't have an easy time paying attention or has A. D. H. D. That their brain must be completely incoherent that that's not working well and because everything is out of whack. But there's something interesting about people with A. D. H. D. Whereby the task networks and the default mode networks are actually working together in a way that's correlated and that is what's abnormal. So [(Time 0:30:17)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63ee77bbd9955ff771d2c0b7) - notes:: The abnormal operation in the ADHD brain is that the default mode network and task networks work together instead of as antagonists like your biceps and triceps muscles so you’re pushing and pulling at the exact same time  - Speaker 0: in particular circuits in the brain that it leads to unnecessary firing of neurons in the brain that are unrelated to the task that one is trying to do and that is unrelated to the information that one is trying to focus on. So if you think back before you got this default mode network and a task related network and they need to be in this kind of concert of anti correlation and an A. D. H. D. They're firing together. Well the problem seems to be that when dopamine is low certain neurons are firing when they shouldn't be. This is like a band right? We'll go back to our band that's a guitar, bass and and the person playing the drums. And it's as if one of those or several of those instruments are playing notes when they shouldn't be [(Time 0:34:24)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63ee788fd9955ff771d2d6cb) - notes:: Hello dopamine hypothesis in ADHD brains postulates that a lack of dopamine causes neural connections to fire or unrelated to the current task or focus at hand  - Speaker 0: of dopamine in the brain and in particular in the regions of the brain that regulate attention and these task related and default mode networks. Okay now young Children fortunately don't have access to those kinds of stimulants most of the time. And those stimulants all have high potential for abuse in adults. So we will talk about the potential for abuse in a few minutes. But if you look at Children even very young Children with A. D. H. D. They show things like preference for sugary foods which also act as dopamine inducing stimulants. Now of course once they get access to soda pop and coffee and tea they start to indulge in those more than other people for a long time it was [(Time 0:36:26)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63ee79c6d9955ff771d2f8e7) - notes:: Children’s substances by sugar, a sugar addiction for the purpose of dopamine regulation, like adults, with coffee, or espresso - Speaker 0: behavior and that coordinate the default mode network. And these task related networks. So many of you have probably heard of Ritalin. Ritalin is a prescription stimulant that is prescribed for A. D. H. D. As well as for narcolepsy, narcolepsy is a condition which people tend to fall asleep during the daytime. Quite a lot excessive daytime sleepiness. Not due to lack of sleep at night but also tend to fall asleep when they get excited if they're really emotionally excited or about to eat or any other kind of activity that would normally get somebody really aroused an alert People with narcolepsy tend to fall asleep or they tend to become what's called cataplexy. They tend to just sort of go limp in the muscles so it's this invasion or sleep into the daytime. It's dis regulated [(Time 0:40:13)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63efcc29d9bdc7e23f12bacf) - notes:: DMN and DTN - Speaker 0: information coming in and learning to pay attention to one's internal state. What we call in terror reception that allow them an awareness such that when they needed to look for visual targets, when they need to focus on multiple things in sequence, they didn't experience the same number of attentional blinks and I should mention not incidentally as people age and their working memory gets worse and their ability to focus gets worse. The number of attentional blinks that they carry out goes up. And there are now studies exploring whether or not this simple meditation like practice of 15-20 minutes or so of sitting and just quietly resting and paying attention to one's breathing. An internal state can also offset some of that age related what is called cognitive [(Time 1:20:16)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63f15c30d9bdc7e23f3dcb5f) - notes:: Open eye Meditation practice can have near permanent positive effects in reduction of attentional blinks which are higher in ADHD brains and even help prevent cognitive decline in a near permanent way - Speaker 0: was due to increasing into receptive awareness per se. It probably wasn't because people gain a much heightened or improved ability to understand what's going on internally. In fact you can imagine how that might actually prevent one's ability to pay attention to things in the outside world. So while there is benefit to just sitting there and being in stillness as they say or focusing on one's breathing an internal state for sake of then accessing information in the external world. A really nice study called into receptive awareness and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Explored whether or not intercept of awareness was different in people with A. D. H. D. Or did not have A. D. H. D. And the [(Time 1:38:33)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63f3a811d9bdc7e23f7bd732) - notes:: Interpretive awareness - Speaker 0: this decrease in attentional capacity, adolescents needed to use their smartphone For less than 60 minutes per day in order to stay focused and centered on their other tasks. Otherwise they started to really run into significant issues. So 60 minutes is not much. I have a feeling that most young people Are using their phone more than 60 minutes per day. I know I am, I think for adults the number is probably higher meaning if you're an adult I could, I'm gonna just extrapolate from what I read in this study. It seems that probably two hours a day on the phone would be the upper limit beyond which you would probably experience pretty severe attentional deficits. [(Time 2:12:09)](https://www.airr.io/quote/63f3cbc9d9bdc7e23f802674) - notes:: Reduce smart phone usage to less than 2hrs per day if possible, try to start limiting apps