ADD/ADHD

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When a child complains about his inability to stay focused on anything, whether it is a conversation with a friend, parents, and/or attending a math class in school, minimal grasp or registration of information after reading a paragraph due to shortness of working memory. He /She is physically active to a dangerous level and more fidgety than his or her age-appropriate behaviors and level of physical energy. In most cases, the child has a neurological condition, causing inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. It is not due to learned faulty behaviors or attitudes, instead it is based on the neuro-biological formation of a child’s personality. The child might have an exceptional innate ability in some other areas, such as language, empathy, and street smartness. Significant concerns to parents and teachers are the foundational gaps in a child’s personality related to education and life skill development.

 

A significant number of patients diagnosed with ADHD show the dominance of slow EEG brain waves (theta 3-8Hz) in the frontal, central, and midline cortical regions in approximately 85-90% of patients with ADHD (Monastra et al., 1999). Barry Sterman discovered sensory motor rhythm (SMR), a groundbreaking finding in the treatment of individuals with a specific type of impaired behavioral control. Lubar and Shouse (1976) initially demonstrated a clinical response in a hyperactive child stimulated considerable interest in SMR training as a potentially efficacious treatment for ADHD. In a typical EEG biofeedback treatment for ADHD, the patients are trained to train down the production of theta (4-7 or 4-8) activity and learn to increase their production of the SMR (12-15 Hz) over one or simultaneously more than one Cz, C3, C4, or Fcz locations. Typically, recordings are obtained from one active site, referenced to linked earlobes, with a sampling rate of at least 128 Hz. Auditory (tones) and visual feedback (counter display; movement of puzzle pieces, graphic designs, or animated figures) is provided based on patient success in controlling microvolts of theta or SMR, or the percentage of time that theta is below or SMR is above (SMR) pre-treatment “thresholds”. This type of training was included in the first controlled, group study of EEG biofeedback for ADHD (Rossiter & La Vaque, 1995).

 

Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of autism, Attention- Deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and pediatric suicidal behavior. Autism rates have risen from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 36 children in 2020 (CDC, 2023), while ADHD rates have increased from 6% in 1997 to approximately 10% in 2018 (CDC,2022). The rates of anxiety among 18–25- year-olds have also increased from 7.97% in 2008 to 14.66% in 2018 (Goodwin et al., 2020), and depression rates for U.S. teens aged 12-17 have increased from 8% in 2007 to 13% in 2017 (Geiger & Davis, 2019; Walrave et al., 2022).

The rapid increase in these disorders is not solely due to improved diagnostic methods, genetic factors, or the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic amplified pre-existing increasing trends. More likely, individuals who were at risk had their disorders triggered or amplified by harmful environmental and behavioral factors. Conceptually, Genetics loads the gun; epigenetics, behavior, and environment pull the trigger.