AD/HD : Dinosaur Brain, Ape Brain and Why We Throw Chairs
Ian N. Ford FRSH (ian@FORD.DIRCON.CO.UK)
Tue, 2 Mar 1999 07:07:32 -0000
Bill said :
>If at all possible, I'd like your "5 minute run down," or at least an
>outline of your run down. As a Scouter who has dealt with a number of AD/HD
>Scouts (including one of my own sons), I'd like to have something like this
>on hand for the boys if I ever want to address this problem with them in a
>group setting. Actually, I think their understanding of AD/HD is sometimes
>better than that of the adults! So, I guess the talk might be appropriate
>for them as well.
A good start is " The Scoutmaster's Guide to Attention Deficit Disorder " by
Steve Ledingham
I explain AD/HD as problem selecting and maintaining attention due to an
imbalance of chemicals in the brain that pass the messages between brain
cells.
Imagine we have three " brains " ... the dinosaur brain, the ape brain and
the human brain.
The dinosaur brain is the " autopilot " that controls basic functions such
as breathing, and the basic reflexes. ( Autonomic nervous system.)
The ape brain controls functions such as vision and movement, and the way we
carry out activities that require some thought.
Above that is the " human brain " the cortex which controls high level
functions such as reading, planning and motivation, and above all
decision-making. The human brain can learn from the past and predict the
future. Above all, it can monitor itself. The cortex is the " control
centre " where messages from the ape brain are processed. The function is
to make decisions ... e.g. the ape brain says " John is annoying me - punch
him on the nose. " The cortex says " John is bigger than you ... bad move
... better walk away. "
In AD/HD the cortex control centre has six phones ringing, two fax
machines, closed circuit cameras and the radio and tv all going at once, and
the control officer can't keep up. So he runs around shouting into all the
phones at the same time. By the time he tells the fist not to connect with
John's nose the damage has been done and John is chasing you down the block
with malicious intent. AD/HD is ( if you will forgive the phrase) the " Oh
Shoot! Syndrome "
Medication helps the control officer to decide what messages to deal with
urgently, and which to ignore or leave until later. The control officer
still has to make the right decisions. He is still in control. What
medication does is " buy time " between impulse and action for the cortex to
evaluate and over-ride. That is what is meant by impulse control in AD/HD.
It also helps the " control officer " to decide what to focus on.
Hyperfocus is where he just monitors one channel and ignores the alarm
bells. Inattention is where he is channel-surfing but does not stay with
any channel long enough to take in the information.
Sometimes I talk about hyperactivity in terms of the reticular activating
system ...
in very basic terms this is the sleep / wake control, and also controls how
much attention we pay to things. Most people can decide how much attention
to pay to something, a bit like having the radio on quietly in the
background and every so often stopping to listen, then go back to what you
are doing. In AD/HD it is as though the volume control is faulty ... the
radio is either on loud or it is off.
The AD/HD brain needs STIMULATION and WANTS IT NOW ... RIGHT NOW !
When it doesn't get its stimulation it starts to go to sleep because it is
bored.
Now, if you want to stay awake and there is not enough going on, it's time
to liven up the party. In school a good way to wake up a boring lesson is
to throw a chair at the teacher. This makes the lesson exciting, and the
AD/HD kid feels pleased that things are happening at last. The teacher, on
the other hand, thinks that factorising quadratic equations is quite
exciting enough, and the dodging flying chairs is a bit too stressful. That
is because he is not AD/HD and doesn't have your sense of fun.
The trouble is, the people who run the school system don't share your sense
of fun either, and they get very unhappy, and suggest you see a
psychiatrist. The psychiatrist prescribes a " stimulant " which turns up
the volume in the reticular activating system from the inside, so you don't
need to " act hyper " to liven things up any more. You can still have fun
when you want to, but only when it is appropriate.
That is a " quick and dirty " introduction ... it is not in any sense the
full story, it is over-simplified and a psychologist could pick holes in it.
It needs to be tailored to the audience, and you can add in details about
neurotransmitters and synapses and whatever as appropriate. As I say, this
is not rocket science ... it just gets a dialog going.
[ This works well if performed with actions ! ]
Ian
