ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus | Episode 37

Up to 25% of college students and perhaps as many as 35% of all individuals between the ages of 17 and 30 are taking adderall on a regular or semi-regular basis in order to work, in order to study, and in order to function and focus in their daily life even though they have not been diagnosed with ADHD.

It does seem that ingestion of omega-3 fatty acids in adults that include EPAs of 1,000 mg or more can allow adults with ADHD or mild attention deficit issues to function well on lower doses of medication and, in rare cases, to eliminate medication entirely.

It appears that phosphatidylserine—taken for two months, 200 milligrams per day—was able to reduce the symptoms of ADHD in children. It has not been looked at in adults yet ... This effect was greatly enhanced by the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids.

Out of the four neurologists and psychiatrists that I spoke to about ADHD in preparation for this, every single one said, 'Children with ADHD, as much as possible, should be encouraged to avoid high-sugar and simple sugar foods of most kinds.'

If you have a close relative that has ADHD, there's a much higher probability that you will have ADHD—and that probability goes up depending on how closely related to that person you happen to be.

Whether or not you have ADHD... if you're an adolescent, limiting your smartphone use to 60 minutes per day or less, and if you are an adult, to two hours per day or less is going to be among the very best ways to maintain—just to maintain—your ability to focus at whatever level you can now.

If you look at the major drugs that were developed and now marketed by pharmaceutical companies for the treatment of ADHD... Those drugs have names like ritalin. Nowadays, it's typically things like adderall, modafinil, and some of the other derivatives. They all serve to increase levels of dopamine—in particular, dopamine in the networks that control task-directed behavior and that coordinate the default mode network and these task-related networks.

Some of you probably realize this—that Adderall is amphetamine ... These drugs like cocaine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine—which are incredibly dangerous and incredibly habit-forming and have high potential for abuse—well, the pharmaceutical versions of those are exactly what are used to treat ADHD.

The rate of blinking is controlled by dopamine. So, what this means is that dopamine is controlling attention, blinks relate to attention and focus, and therefore, the dopamine and blinking system is one way that you constantly modulate and update your perception of time.

Your ability to attend and focus does not relate to how smart you are or your IQ of any type.

So, right now, the current estimates are that about 1 in 10 children—and probably more—have ADHD.

People with ADHD can have a hyper-focus, an incredible ability to focus on things that they really enjoy or are intrigued by.

Neural plasticity is greatest in childhood and tapers off after about age 25, but neuroplasticity from age 3 until age 12 or 13 is exceedingly high.

If dopamine levels are too low in particular circuits in the brain... 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.