Attention, Multi-tasking, Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

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Attention

• shorter attention spans: people now generally lose concentration after 8 seconds – largely driven by an increasingly digitalized lifestyle; Source: Time 

• ADHD vs. Autism; Source: American Psychiatric Organization

  • Autism: focus on routines and sameness, difficulty transitioning or changing activities; easily overstimulated or sensitive to sensory input (sounds, light)

  • ADHD: easily distracted and bord, look for new and different experiences; may seek out constant stimulation and novelty

  • Both: neurodevelopmental disorders that affect brain function, can cause difficulties with attention/focus/impulsivity, lead to social communication challenges, impact brain's executive functioning (set of mental skills that determine focus, making decisions, handling emotions: working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control

• ADHD:

  • 80% genetic component: dysregulation of dopamine and norepinephrine systems; Source: National Geographic

    • dopamine: motivation, focus, reward-processing

    • norepinephrine: alertness, attention, arousal

  • performance disorder of regulating attention and emotions through structural and functional differences in brain and neural networks: lower overall brain volume and lower volume in caudate nucleus (goal-directed behavior and motivation), Putamen (learning and motor control: speech articulation), Nucleus accumbens (motivated behavior, reward information), amygdala (experiencing emotions like fear and aggression and detecting threats and activating appropriate fear-related behaviors), Cerebellum (coordination of motor movements like balance control, gait, posture, muscle tone, and voluntary muscle. activity), prefrontal cortex (self-awareness, decision-making, judgment, insight, empathy, ability to self-regulate emotion and behavior, and larger hippocampus (long-term memory and working memory); Source: Psychology Today

  • affects 8.4% of children and 2.5% of adults; Source: American Psychiatric Association 

  • prevalence of being diagnosed with ADHD: 11.3% in children Ages 5-17; Source: CDC

    • characterized by a pattern of inattention, impulsivity, or hyperactivity that leads to functional impairment across multiple settings

    • more likely to have ADHD:

      • boys

      • children Ages 12-17

      • White non-Hispanic children Ages 5-17

      • children with lower levels of family income

  • symptoms

• 4% of U.S. adults have enough symptoms to qualify for ADHD but only 1 in 10 are diagnosed and treated; ; Source: NYT 

  • symptoms more common in adults:

    • forgetfulness

    • trouble focusing

    • organization problems

    • procrastination

Multitasking

• multitasking: trying to perform 2 or more tasks concurrently; Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information 

  • humans tend to overestimate their perceived ability to multitask

  • the human brain has evolved to just be able to focus on a single task

  • we are just mentally switching back and forth between tasks when we think we are multitasking

  • the 3 key brain systems involved in executive control and sustained attention limit our ability to multitask:

    • frontoparietal control network,

    • dorsal attention network

    • ventral attention network

• cognitive peak: cognitive ability rises sharply until the early 20s and then plateaus; performance also steadily increased over the course of the 20th century, steepening in the 1990s, which has coincided with the rise of digital technology; humans reach their cognitive peak around the age of 35 and begin to decline after the age of 45; our cognitive abilities today exceed those of our ancestors; Source: World Economic Forum