Traditional solutions are not enough. Learn how Play Attention can help increase focus and concentration.

PART THREE OF THREE

Play Attention vs. commercial video games
It’s clear that games whether video, computer, board, etc. can teach. However, it’s also clear that chronic play of the most popular video game titles can be detrimental to an individual with ADHD.

As a parent or professional, it’s imperative that one asks:

• Who are these games addressing?
• What is the purpose of playing?
• What is it that is being taught?
• Do these games provide the 3 catalysts needed for brain growth –  attention, challenge, and deliberate practice?

Our concern is with students that have attentional challenges. That’s who we address with Play Attention.

The purpose of playing Play Attention’s games is to learn skills that students with attentional challenges often have yet to acquire. 

Play Attention is not entertainment. It is an instructional tool that teaches discriminatory processing, memory, motor skills, visual tracking, time on-task, and attention stamina. You might consider it edutainment. That’s a term coined to denote a combination of entertainment and education.

A behavior shaping module is built into Play Attention’s core. It’s there to mitigate or extinguish behavior like fidgeting, calling out, distractibility, etc.  Since we hold patents on the integration of cognitive skills with behavioral shaping, no one else can do what we do in one package.

I’m often asked why I didn’t structure Play Attention’s games like the intense entertainment that Xbox or Play Station games  offer (those names are trademarks of Microsoft and Sony Corp. respectively).  The most popular games produced for those systems are incredibly visually intense and graphically frenetic. If one has a true attention problem, a hallmark is one’s ability to pay attention to visually intense, graphically frenetic things. Commonly, ADHD individuals can be entertained by Xbox or Play Station games for hours on end never becoming disinterested or bored.

As an educator, I knew it was important to develop a game with a purpose. Each game in Play Attention is played for a purpose: to learn a skill. Every game provides the 3 catalysts necessary from brain growth. The mind is the mouse or joystick as the user’s mind (attention) controls the action. Active engagement is required to make the games work, and that’s challenging. True learning can occur because we implemented goals, feedback, and a deliberate learning model within our core.

So, when asked why I didn’t create Play Attention like Grand Theft Auto or Halo, I respond, “I don’t think it’s responsible to allow your child to play games that teach nothing, likely diminish function in the frontal lobes as research has demonstrated, and simply entertain with no purpose. I create games that challenge, teach, and provide success.”

When I hear parents complain, “Oh, he’ll get bored. I don’t know if I can get him to do it,” I know it’s a clear underestimation of their child’s capacity. All children get bored. When you hear, “Mom, I’m bored,” do you jump to your feet to entertain them? Do you whip out a DVD that you’ve squirreled away for just such a moment? You’d be surprised how many parents will just to keep from hearing their child’s moaning or complaining. That’s just poor parenting. Period.

Set the bar higher. If your child wants to be on the baseball team, he’ll practice for hours with the coach. If your child wants to be on the swim team, she’ll swim many, many laps. That’s boring, but they do it anyway. ADHD and all. Why? Because they see the benefit. It’s not fun to practice throwing to second base over and over again. Nor is it fun to swim laps, but they do it because they perceive the payoff to be bigger than themselves. And that’s your job as parent. Get them to see the bigger picture. Do they want better grades, more friends, more success? That’s what we’re offering. It’s a truly happy medium between entertainment and learning.

I once told my mother I was bored. I was 6 years old. She barely looked up from her book and said, “Go outside and play.”

I said, “That’s boring.”

She said, “Use you mind, Peter. It’s a good mind. Find something to do with it.”

She was right. I haven’t been bored in 45 years. I learned to play and grow.

PART TWO OF THREE

Entertainment vs. learning
Entertainment is usually a passive act that includes an activity which provides a distraction to everyday events or provides amusement. A good example of entertainment is watching a movie or concert. However, one may also actively participate in recreational entertainment  such as playing video games or sports. One does not participate in an entertaining activity to be educated. That is far from the goal of entertainment. In fact, we participate in entertainment to be relieved of having to work, having to learn, or having to be actively engaged for those purposes. We seek entertainment for fun and pleasure.

Entertainment is a vast industry. The modern American video game industry made about $18.85 billion on video-game hardware, software, and accessories in 2007. That’s nearly twice what movie theaters made and triple what the video game industry made in 2000. Most authorities on video games estimate that 70 to 80 percent of boys and approximately 20 percent of girls play video games daily.

Learning is on the other end of the spectrum from entertainment. In order to learn, we need attention, challenge, and deliberate practice. We need to be actively engaged. To apply the mind with the intent of long-term retention, assimilation, and application of new information. This implies both effort and commitment. While we may employ some of these elements, the purpose is far different in a learning environment. The purpose of learning in Star Trek: Bridge Commander is to keep the ship from exploding by using the controls correctly.  Learning is there to benefit your game play.  While this takes some reasoning and trial and error, is this useful in the classroom or at the office? Not likely. It’s not likely transferrable or to generalize either unless your child’s job is commanding Star Fleet.

If I may paraphrase the late martial artist and film legend Bruce Lee, you cannot learn to swim by kicking your legs and stroking with your arms on land. You have to jump in the water. You cannot learn to run a marathon by jogging around the track. 

In other words, if we want to learn something, it has to be taught with a purpose or aim, and we have to practice it deliberately to improve. If we closely examine what video games our spouse, child, or clients are playing, then we might just be alarmed at the violence, the lack of humanity, and gratuitous sex involved.

The most popular video games are those that are visually intense and graphically frenetic. It’s important to mention here that paying attention to visually stimulating and frenetic activity is another hallmark of an ADHD individual. Offer a 3-ring circus and their brain is quite capable of attending to it. Ask them to clean their room, a much less stimulating activity, and it’s very difficult. This predisposition towards highly stimulating activities seems to involve the brain’s reward and gratification systems as well as its processing and other regulatory systems.

Thus, a high stimulation Xbox or Play Station game is quite satisfying; ADHD individuals can hyperfocus on these games for hours on end. What does that teach? Research tells us that people who play these games do learn visual recognition skills, i.e. they can rapidly determine the number of opposing characters on screen far faster than the average human being. So, if the only thing they’re going to be is a fighter pilot, then these games might be suitable.

Other research tells us that if one chronically plays these games (chronically would be classified as one hour or more per day), one is more likely to report lower grades at school, diminished attention at school, and a greater probability of being addicted to these games or the Internet itself. Good Japanese research also noted that entertaining, highly stimulating video games that involve little else than pointing and shooting can lower both the metabolic rate and EEG in the frontal lobes of the brain. The frontal lobes, among other capacities, govern attention, aggression, and impulsivity. This is important to know especially if you have an ADHD person in your household using these games.

It seems that most ADHD children and adults are prewired to pay attention to overly stimulation things. That seems to be a hallmark of the trait. They frequently become hyperfocused on them for hours at a time. Taking these games away is probably not practical. However, limiting play time is quite sensible.

If one is to learn skills, techniques, or methods that will strengthen the brain, then the video game must be quite different than the Xbox or Play Station most popular list.

Upcoming, part 3, Play Attention vs. off the shelf video games.

PART ONE OF THREE

This blog is partially based on material I presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations in Vienna, Austria.

Playing vs. learning
What’s the difference between playing and learning? Sometimes there is no difference. People can learn through play. Educators have known this for years. Grade school teachers often try to teach using games. Games engage, excite, and motivate students. However, there is a significant difference between games that simply entertain and games that facilitate learning.

When learning through games or other modalities, three fundamental catalysts are necessary for the brain to create and grow a neural pathway facilitating long-term retention. These catalysts are attention, challenge, and deliberate practice.

Attention 
A student must pay enough attention to incoming stimuli to even begin the learning process. Too little attention causes the student to constantly redirect attention to other stimuli.  Picture your ADHD child trying to learn multiplication tables. While the teacher is teaching 2 x 2, he’s paying attention to the bird outside the window. Little chance that multiplication tables will be learned soon. So, attention is crucial, in fact, it’s the core to all learning. For an ADHD person, the ability to direct attention and sustain it without distraction is impaired.

Challenge
If the teacher can get a student to pay enough attention to multiplication tables, the student must then be challenged. Challenge arrives when the brain confronts something it doesn’t quite understand. The brain attempts to place the information into a tenuous relationship with information it already possesses. If the brain already knows the information, it simply retrieves the data from its storage bank. So, if the teacher presents 2 x 1, and the student knows immediately the answer is 2, then there’s no challenge and little is learned. However, if the teacher presents 2 x 7561, then the student is challenged and must use all of his pre-existing knowledge to find a solution. Attention and challenge spark creation and growth of new neural pathways for long-term retention. However, long-term retention is not guaranteed until we practice.

Deliberate practice
Educationalists have known that haphazard studying or practice results in haphazard learning. Deliberate practice is a term coined by Dr. Anders Eriksson, a professor at Florida State University (http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/ericsson.dp.html). He studied how people become experts in their fields and found that the length of time they practiced and their use of deliberate practice greatly influenced their expertise. 

Let’s use multiplication tables again to describe deliberate practice.  Chances are that you learned your multiplication tables by practicing one group at a time; multiplying by 1, by 2, by 3, etc. In many years of teaching, I never saw a student learn multiplication tables by learning 2 x 3, then 7 x 9, then 6 x7. We learned in a sequence that was deliberately practiced until mastered.

When I was learning to multiply by 6, I had difficulty with 6 x 7, 6  x 8, and 6 x 9. So, my teacher made special flashcards for me with these specific problems written on the cards. I used these cards, blocks, and other devices to practice these difficult sequences. If I didn’t get the right answer, I got immediate feedback that I was incorrect. I used this feedback to make changes to my strategy in attempting to find the correct solution. That’s deliberate practice; sorting out the difficult elements that we have not learned, developing strategies to learn them, getting feedback regarding correctness or incorrectness of these strategies, and practicing them correctly and  long enough to attain long-term retention.

Most people do not  use deliberate practice. We just practice, i.e. we just repeat the same thing over and over without taking the time or making the effort to work on the elements that are most difficult for us. We often only practice things that are easy or that we’re already good at performing. We avoid the difficult elements that don’t provide immediate reward, and that seems to be the line that clearly distinguishes expert from amateur.

Coming soon, part two: Entertainment vs. Learning

Virtually anyone that knows, teaches, counsels, or works with an ADHD person is aware that ADHD is not a simple matter of attention deficit. That’s just the tip of a very large iceberg.

As a matter of fact, the term ‘attention deficit’ is actually a misnomer of sorts. ADHD people have diffused attention, not a deficit or lack of attention. Ask them. I often asked ADHD students what was happening in my classroom. They could tell me about the bird outside the window, the cobwebs in the corner of the room, a little about my lesson, a little about the whispering around them, and a little about when the air conditioner was turning on and off. That’s actually a great amount of attention. It’s just scattered or diffused over a wide area all day long.

A true hallmark of ADHD is the brain’s inability to direct attention for long periods without becoming distracted. So, it’s not a deficit at all; ADHD is an inability to direct attention. But there’s more.

ADHD is also a matter of difficulty in multiple domains of cognition. These domains are also labeled “Executive Functions.” Aside from diffused attention, ADHD also encompasses difficulty in organization of thought and tasks; sustaining effort while filtering out distractions; memory (both short-term and working memory); managing behavior/emotion; and visually directing attention and actions.

How does one cope with all these areas? It seems a monumental task. Of course, the primary medical intervention is medication. Does medication actually address all of these cognitive domains? No, it does not. Medication has limitations. That’s a fact. That’s why many parents do not see academic, behavioral, or social improvements [see the MTA study] over time. Another fact is that many of these cognitive domains can be strengthened by direct instruction.

Several small and large software companies have introduced themselves recently into the brain fitness category. Each company tends to address a specific domain like memory or focus. So, to satisfy the cognitive and behavioral needs of an ADHD person, one would need to purchase many of these games.

As the original pioneer and developer back in the late 1980s,  I saw that there was a vast gap in the needs of the ADHD person and what was being delivered. By 1994, I developed Play Attention to teach sustained attention, visual tracking with attention (like watching a teacher move about the classroom), organizing and finishing tasks, memory, filtering out distractions, and motor skills. I even included behavioral shaping. Later this year we’ll deliver social skills, more working memory & short-term memory modules, and more.  We’ve received 3 patents for this pioneering effort.

Play Attention is a careful collaboration between you, the Play Attention software, and the Play Attention professional support staff. It’s provided us with a 92% satisfaction rating.

Of course, to get results, you need to use it. Next week I’ll address how Play Attention transcends being useful to being compelling.

In late 2009, the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom performed a study on Play Attention. Children in the school system near the university used Play Attention 3 days per week for twelve weeks.  Also see: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107083904.htm

We’ll discuss this study at our free webinar on January 13th. Please register here to attend.

These students were compared to a control group of students who did not use the system.  Play Attention students showed significant improvement in behavior and attention. One of the authors of the study said:

“Children with a diagnosis of ADHD find it hard to control their impulses and inhibit inappropriate behaviour,” said Professor Pine, “This can lead to educational and behavioural difficulties. The Play Attention method may prevent long-term problems by helping the children to be less impulsive and more self-controlled.”

The study will be published in a peer reviewed journal shortly.  The full press release from the University of Hertfordshire:

New Treatment for Hyperactivity in Children

07 January 2010 Hertfordshire, University of

A new thought-operated computer system which can reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children will be rolled out across the UK this month.

Professor Karen Pine at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Psychology and assistant Farjana Nasrin investigated the effects of EEG (Electroencephalography) biofeedback, a learning strategy that detects brain waves, on ten children with an attention deficit from Hertfordshire schools

They used a system called Play Attention, supplied by not-for-profit community interest company, Games for Life, three times a week for twelve weeks.

The system involves the child playing a fun educational computer game whilst wearing a helmet similar to a bicycle helmet. The helmet picks up their brain activity in the form of EEG waves related to attention. As long as the child concentrates they control the games, but as soon as their attention waivers the game stops.

The researchers found at the end of the study that the children’s impulsive behaviour was reduced, compared to a control group who had not used the system.

“Children with a diagnosis of ADHD find it hard to control their impulses and inhibit inappropriate behaviour,” said Professor Pine, “This can lead to educational and behavioural difficulties. The Play Attention method may prevent long-term problems by helping the children to be less impulsive and more self-controlled.”

Professor Pine and Dr Rob Sharp a senior specialist educational psychologist are continuing to work on futuristic projects with Ian Glasscock, Managing Director of Games for Life. A means of assessing learning in children with
severe communication and physical difficulties by a thought-controlled computer game method is likely to have considerable potential for these children who cannot operate a computer manually.

“Attention-related difficulties including ADHD affects many children, young people and adults and has a significant impact on their lives,” said Mr Glasscock. "Mind-controlled educational computer games technology is the only intervention shown to reduce the core symptoms of ADHD, historically medication may have been prescribed for the child.”

Games for Life plans to roll out this new system across the UK this month.

The November issue of the medical journal Pediatrics published research from Dr. Robert Kahn et al regarding the relationship between tobacco smoke, lead concentrations, and ADHD.

Kahn, a physician and researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Ohio, found that two risk factors: 1) exposure to tobacco in the womb and 2) exposure to lead in childhood significantly increased the likelihood of ADHD developing  in children.

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Tobacco exposure in the womb was measured by reports of cigarette use during pregnancy, and childhood lead exposure was assessed by blood levels. Of the 2588 cases they reviewed, the researchers determined that children aged 8 – 15 who were exposed to tobacco smoke in the womb were 2.4 times more likely to have ADHD. Children with lead blood levels in the top third of the population had a 2.3-fold increased likelihood of ADHD diagnosis.

Lead researcher, Tanya E. Froehlich, MD, cited that the combination from both lead and tobacco smoke created a synergistic effect, an even greater effect than smoke or lead alone. Children who were exposed to  both tobacco smoke in the womb and higher lead levels had a more than eightfold increased chance of having ADHD compared to children who weren’t exposed to either.

The study does have limitations; the researchers analyzed data on smoking that was derived from the mothers’ answers on a questionnaire. The data did not include the number of cigarettes smoked. And while the researchers found a link between tobacco, lead and ADHD, they did not prove that these factors actually caused the disorder. This is similar to previously published research on prenatal tobacco smoke and lead levels.

Curiously, smoking tobacco is twice as popular in the adult ADHD population compared to the non-ADHD adult population.  Columbia University researchers established a study to determine if smoking ameliorated ADHD symptoms in adults back in 2006.  If tobacco smoke truly increases the risk of developing ADHD, the popularity of smoking among ADHD adults may create a cycle of producing more ADHD children if smoking is done prenatally.

While a strong genetic link is still the likely cause of ADHD, environment still plays a significant role in brain development. The researchers assert that perhaps up to 35 per cent of cases of ADHD in youngsters aged between 8 and 15 could be reduced by getting rid of both prenatal exposure to tobacco and childhood exposure to lead.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is conservatively estimated to affect anywhere between 5-7% of the world’s school-children. Is it possible that ADHD is the result of a brain that just develops slower than the brain of a child that doesn’t have ADHD?

Research has shown that the ADHD brain may develop differently than one without ADHD. However, no conclusive pathology (diseased or damaged location in the brain) exists; we don’t know what causes it.

What we do know: As a child’s brain develops, his experiences and environment help shape the connections in the brain. This development is also connected to genetic endowment. Thus, the brain develops dependent upon a complex interplay between nature (genetic endowment) and nurture (experience/environment). These connections form networks which help us process language, calculate math, feel, see, smell, think, and all else the brain is responsible to perform.

The part of the brain that is crucial to a child’s development is the cerebral cortex, the brain’s outer layer. The brain’s most complex functions like attention, consciousness, memory, and language are believed to be regulated in the cerebral cortex. As a child develops, gains experiences, and is subjected to his/her environment, the connections between the neurons (nerve cells in the brain) increase causing the cortex to thicken. The brain acts much like a muscle during adolescence; it’s a use it or lose it proposition. Connections which are frequently used are strengthened while unused connections are pruned away.

Researchers Philip Shaw, Judith Rapaport and others from the National Institute of Mental Health have proposed that ADHD may be the result of  lagging brain development resulting in an average 3 year delay. This theory is supported by earlier studies which found that children with ADHD have similar brain activity to slightly younger children without the condition. 

Shaw and Rapaport used MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to measure the brains of 447 children of different ages. They frequently noticed that the volume of the brain in the prefrontal cortex was thinner in ADHD children than other children of the same age. The cortex developed correctly over time, but the ADHD brain’s  development lagged behind about 3 years before it reached maturity. Among other things, the prefrontal cortex has the responsibility of governing attention, short-term memory,  and controlling inappropriate thoughts and actions. The researchers theorized that ADHD is a lack of control over these tasks, so it was logical to suggest that ADHD is a matter of developmental delay.

Significantly, Shaw and Rapaport found that the primary motor cortex developed faster in ADHD children. As its name implies, the motor cortex helps to plan and control movements. Shaw theorized that this might explain the restlessness, fidgeting and uncontrolled hyperactivity found in ADHD children.

This research raises more questions than it answers. Currently, the cause of the delay is unknown.  If ADHD is just a developmental delay, why do approximately 70% to 80% of children carry their ADHD traits into adulthood? This fact does not rule out Shaw’s conclusions, just that developmental delay may only be present in a minority of children labeled ADHD. Other children, the 70% to 80% previously mentioned, do carry their brain differences into adulthood.

Other research points to a set of genes responsible for the ADHD trait. If either genes and/or developmental delay are the cause, then what is one to do? The brain is an incredibly flexible organ. It is shaped by a variety of factors which means that parents, teachers, and other professionals can influence outcomes. Finding a program that addresses the needs of an ADHD child, helps shape behavior, and optimizes their potential is still the best practice.

It’s suspected that nearly 25% of all cases identified as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not really ADHD at all, but are symptoms related to sleep disorders.

One of the leaders in this research is University of Michigan professor Ronald Chervin.  Chervin theorizes that very important brain development is done during sleep. Among other things, this includes the ability to regulate emotion and processing. So, if a child has chronic sleep problems, brain development may be impaired. Chervin also suspects that the brain does not receive enough oxygen if the child snores which further inhibits development.  According to Chervin’s research, children who snore are more likely to have ADHD.

He likens the ADHD-sleep connection to a child who doesn’t get a nap; he becomes restless, irritable, and acts out.

Chervin developed his theory based on a sleep/behavior survey of the parents of 866 children.  Chervin’s data exposed a sleep disorder -behavior relationship.  It was only logical to conclude that if the sleep disorder could be corrected, the ADHD symptoms would be extinguished. 

According to Newsweek: “To test this theory, Chervin then studied 79 kids (5 to13 years old) who were about to have an adenotonsillectomy. Prior to the surgery, 22 of the 79 were categorized as having ADHD, based on standard measures for such a diagnosis. One year later,  Chervin’s team tracked down the kids for a follow-up. Of the 22 identified as having ADHD, 11 kids no longer qualified as having the disorder.”

Two problems lingered: 1) New cases of ADHD cropped up and 2) 50% of the surgical patients received no benefit at all.

Before you go and get your child’s tonsils and adenoids out, let’s discuss the distinct problems in the logic associated with this research.

First, we have a problem of antecedence; does ADHD exist because of sleep problems? or does the sleep problem exist because of  ADHD? That relationship cannot be clearly identified and is a confounding problem.

Secondly, new cases of ADHD appeared and others did not benefit at all from the surgery. This would lead one to think that the outcomes may not be related at all to the procedure.

I’m reminded of an old story about researchers who taught a frog to jump upon saying, “Jump!” Many weeks were spent training the frog.  The researchers were quite happy that they had proved the frog could hear and could respond to the human voice. One of the researchers  decided they should amputate the frogs hind legs. After carefully surgically removing the frog’s legs and rehabilitating the poor frog, the researchers stood in front of the frog and yelled, “Jump!” When the frog did not respond, they all heartily nodded in agreement that the frog’s hearing was severely impaired by the removal of his hind legs.

There is little doubt that sleep problems affect brain development. Past studies have demonstrated that preschoolers with a sleep disorder are twice as prone to substance abuse by early adolescence and more likely to suffer from anxiety in their 20s. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics concurs that sleep problems are not benign.

However, before we undertake invasive, painful surgery as an option, far more research should be performed to absolutely indicate a direct correlation. One currently does not exist and other options should be explored.

It has become obvious that adequate, restful, uninterrupted sleep is essential to our personal well being. Abnormal sleep patterns may result in behaviors that can be easily confused with ADHD.

If your child has a sleep problem, taking them to a sleep specialist may help. Getting adequate exercise, providing a consistent sleep routine/schedule, reducing stress,  and eating a proper diet may also assist in getting better sleep and better behavior. 

Articles published recently in two distinct journals, Developmental Neurobiology and Child Development, reveal links to ADHD and future sexual behavior.  The studies also reinforce the conventional wisdom that being reared by two  parents is better than being reared by only one parent. 

The German research team published in  Developmental Neurobiology studied Octodon degus, a rodent related to chinchillas and guinea pigs.  Degus were selected because they, like humans, are biparental creatures, meaning that both parents take part in raising their young. 

It’s been known from many other studies that prenatal and neonatal development are dependent upon a complex interplay between nature (genetic endowment) and nurture (environment).  For example, orphaned children from the former Soviet Union who received very little touch and too little stimulation were frequently developmentally impaired.

The German researchers’ intent was to see if the brains of degus reared without a father differed significantly from degus reared with two parents.

One set of degus was reared biparentally. The  other set was reared by the mother alone, the father having been removed the day after the pups’ births.  The pups’ mothers demonstrated similar sleeping patterns, grooming, and licking processes in both time and intensity. However, the pups reared by mother alone did not receive the extra nurturing time  given to pups who had a father present as well.

The researchers compared the neuronal development of both sets of pups at 21 days of age. They also carefully observed the behaviors between pups reared by mother alone, and those reared by both parents.

Not surprisingly, fatherless pups exhibited significantly different neuronal growth patterns in parts of the brain that control decision making, reward, and control (amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex). Why is this important to humans? Because human brains are wired very similarly to the degus in this region – the cells serve identical functions.

As one author of this study, Dr.  Braun says,  "So on that level we can assume that what happens in the animal’s brain when it’s raised in an impoverished environment … should be very similar to what happens in our children’s brain." 

While some differences minimized over time, long-term differences endured.

Dr. Braun noted that a preliminary analysis of the degus’ behavior demonstrated that fatherless animals seemed to have a lack of impulse control. The fatherless pups  also engaged in more play-fighting or aggressive behavior when they played with siblings .  These are also hallmarks of ADHD.

The research correlates with a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published in September of 2009. The report cites that only 57% of US children live with both parents.  The remaining 43% that live with one parent have an increased risk of delinquency, ADHD, and poorer scholastic performance according to the report.

Researcher Dr. Jane Mendle, whose study was published in the journal Child Development, reinforces this nature/nurture aspect of brain development.

Prior research revealed that children reared in homes without a biological father have sex earlier than children raised in traditional biparental families. Mendle thinks the relationship is not just environmental, but due to the complex interplay between genetic endowment (nature) and fatherlessness (nurture/environment).

Mendle says, "While there’s clearly no such thing as a ‘father absence gene,’ there are genetic contributions to traits in both moms and dads that increase the likelihood of earlier sexual behavior in their children. These include impulsivity, substance use and abuse, argumentativeness, and sensation seeking.

"These traits get passed down from parents to children, resulting in a situation known as ‘passive gene-environment correlation,’ because the same genetic factors that influence when children first have intercourse also affect the likelihood of their growing up in a home without a dad."

Therefore, we are still not able to positively determine  whether single parenthood causes these outcomes. There remains a possibility that it is merely in some way associated with ADHD, risk of delinquency, early sexual experimentation, etc. It is likely that the probability of pure association will greatly increase as we discover more about early interaction between parents and their children.

If you are a single parent, all is not lost. The writer is the product of a single parent household; well balanced and successful. So whether a father is present or not, parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, counselors, etc. need to provide a child with positive interaction through talk, kind touch, and behavioral modeling. It is likely to be shown in further research that such interaction may even mend brain changes caused by fatherlessness.  We are not just the product of our genes. The brain rewires itself  not only due to genetic endowment, but it’s shaped by environment as well.

As Dr. Braun says, parents "are the sculptors of their children’s brains."

I would add that it’s not just parents. It’s everyone in the child’s environment. It does take a whole village to raise a child.

Obviously, being pregnant can be stressful in itself, but current research shows that stress can affect fetal development which may lead to long-term problems including ADHD.

Dr. Vivette Glover of Imperial College London, surveyed pregnant women at her hospital. Of these, nearly one quarter felt anxious and depressed due to stressors including work, money, arguing with spouse, and moving to accommodate a larger family. When compared to their non-stressed counterparts in this research, the babies of the stressed mother had lower birth weight, lower IQ, slower cognitive development, and more anxiety. Lower birth weight has been an indicator for coronary heart disease in later life.

In 2007, research in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry indicated that being stressed during pregnancy is as detrimental for the baby’s development as smoking or being obese. Glover’s research reveals why and how this happens: stress produces the hormone cortisol. An abundance of stress can actually diminish the barrier enzyme that inhibits cortisol from reaching the fetus. Costisol impacts fetal brain development.

According to Glover, “People used to think that if something was congenital, apparent at birth, it had to be genetic. In fact it can be an in-vitro reaction of genes and environment.”

Glover also contends that her research shows stress greatly increases the likelihood of a child having ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), cognitive delay, autism , anxiety and depression. 

Glover’s research reinforces previous data from the UK where stress was shown to increase the risk for development of ADHD. In that research, the women who experienced the most stress doubled the chances of developing ADHD.

“The organs are forming during the first trimester of pregnancy, but the brain is developing all the way through,” Glover explains. “The organs are sensitive while they are forming and, once formed, they are harder to change.”

“In evolutionary terms, stress perhaps prepares the child for survival in a stressful environment. If a child is anxious and has attention deficiency, it will be very alert to danger. This may once have been adaptive, beneficial for the child, but it isn’t any more,” Glover says.

Significantly, Glover’s research implies that the changes may be on a genetic level so that it may be passed on generation to generation.

Therefore, it’s important to realize that taking care of ourselves during pregnancy is more important now than ever. Small efforts like seeking health services early, meditating, eating a balanced diet, taking pre-natal vitamins, and laughing are good practices.

Minimizing stress by maintaining a consistent schedule both at work and at home is a good idea.