Last week, Nobel Prize winning brain scientist, Dr Eric Kandel, wrote about “The New Science of Mind.” The ideas he presented are provactive and exciting for people wanting to better understand the roots of ADHD.
Scientists are beginning to uncover the nature and relationship of different areas of the brain. In years to come, understanding the physical basis of our emotions and cognitive processes will provide us with better methods to intervene and treat these conditions.
For example, in the case of depression there are a number of areas of the brain involved (see illustration):
- hypothalamus
- amygdala
- hippocampus
- prefrontal cortex
- subcallosal cingulate
- right anterior insula
Scientists are now testing the impact of various types of interventions to learn whether or not they are effective, and which areas of the brain are impacted by the treatment. One such recent study reveals that the efficacy of medication versus behavioral intervention was dependent on which portion of the brain was most involved in the depressed person. Not all depressed brains are equal.
This type of research is very exciting for those of us in the ADHD community because it starts to give a glimpse into why medications work for some people and not others.
In addition Dr Kandel draws the following important conclusions:
- The brain is very complex and many parts are involved with any psychiatric condition.
- It is possible to identify specific, measurable biological markers (biomarkers) for any mental disorder and we can use them to predict the effectiveness of psychotherapy versus medication
- Psychotherapy is a biological treatment, i.e. brain therapy. It produces lasting effects in our brain which we can measure in the same way learning impacts our brain.
- Psychotherapy can be empirically studied and is therefore a science.
Here at Edge our mission includes measuring the effectiveness of coaching as a behavioral intervention. Because coaching has been shown to be successful in working with a student to develop new habits and behaviors, it is emerging as a highly regarded behavioral intervention for ADHD and part of a multi-modal treatment plan.
We also hope that as scientists gain a stronger understanding of our brain functioning and methods to measure the biological processes behind our mind’s activities, that we will see a greater acceptance and understanding for people who struggle with the symptoms of ADHD.
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to try coaching as an intervention for your ADHD today – Sign up for your FREE coaching session today!