Brain maturation and ADHD

There has been a lot of coverage in the media recently about ADHD with new research claiming that medication for the condition is virtually useless. Now a new study by American researchers suggests that ADHD might be caused by delayed brain development and is something that children will eventually grow out of. Researchers studied 446 participants over a period of years and found that the development of the prefrontal cortex, which helps to suppress inappropriate actions and thoughts, focus attention, remember things from moment to moment, work for reward and control movement was delayed in children with ADHD. Conversely the motor cortex matured faster than normal in children with ADHD which could explain the restlessness and fidgetiness common in these children. On average the cortex sites attained peak thickness at an average age of 10.5 in those with ADHD compared to 7.5 for the other children.

You can read more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/11/13/immature-brain-may-cause-adhd/1528.html