Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex brain disorder that presents as patterns of inattention and/or hyperactivity that impact an individual’s day-to-day life. It’s the most common childhood developmental disorder and presents in a variety of forms.
Attention problems include daydreaming, difficulty focusing and finishing tasks and being easily distracted. Hyperactivity typically refers to fidgeting, struggling to stay seated or restlessness.
A person with ADHD may be impulsive and disruptive. Hyperactivity and impulsivity often improve into adulthood, but attention problems tend to persist and may have deleterious long-term consequences such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and mood or substance abuse problems.
How The Florey is making a difference
Florey researchers are exploring the mechanisms – from genes and environment to small molecules, to whole brain regions – that underlie key symptoms of ADHD in Australian children. They aim to develop a fundamental understanding of the biological underpinnings of ADHD and create new scientifically driven strategies to treat this complex brain disorder.
Research projects
- Advancing precision medicine for ADHD: deep phenotyping of neurodevelopment in an Australian based birth-cohort
- Chemical exposures in utero, child neurodevelopment and epigenetic programming
- Plastic chemicals, lipidomics and child neurodevelopment
- Prenatal factors (emphasis on nutrition), one-carbon metabolism, epigenetic programming and early childhood neurodevelopment
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