ADD/ADHD and Impaired Executive Function in Clinical Practice.
The disorder currently known as attention-deficit disorder (ADD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is now recognized by most clinicians as a legitimate and widely prevalent disorder among children and adults. Yet there is still widespread misunderstanding as to the disorder's nature. Many clinicians mistakenly continue to think of this as a behavior disorder characterized by hyperactivity in children and excessive restlessness or impulsivity in adults. In fact, ADD/ADHD is essentially a cognitive disorder, a developmental impairment of executive functions (EFs), the self-management system of the brain. Although EFs are complex, their impairment constitutes a syndrome that can be recognized readily in clinical practice; impaired EF involves a pattern of chronic difficulties in executing a wide variety of daily tasks. Once recognized, this disorder can be effectively treated in most cases. In this article, I describe the nature of EF impairments in ADD/ADHD and how the syndrome can be recognized and effectively treated in clinical practice. (Note: The term ADHD is used in the balance of this article to refer to both inattentive and combined subtypes.).
Brown
Thomas E
TE
Yale Clinic for Attention and Related Disorders, Yale University School of Medicine, 1188 Whitney Avenue, PO Box 6694, Hamden, CT 06517, USA. TEBrownYU@aol.com
D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D009484:Neuropsychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants