Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, starts during childhood and symptoms can continue into adult years. You may have problems with sustaining your attention, which can affect how you get work done. The other types of ADHD symptoms, hyperactivity and impulsiveness, can cause behavioral problems. These symptoms may result from abnormalities with a certain neurotransmitter in your brain called dopamine. This neurotransmitter is involved in several functions, such as motivation and sexual arousal.
Identification
Symptoms of ADHD include hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattention. Hyperactivity and impulsiveness, such as becoming impatient, having problems performing quiet tasks and fidgeting, relates to dopamine as low levels of the neurotransmitter may affect how patients can control their behavior. The inattention symptoms of ADHD, such as becoming bored quickly, daydreaming and having problems focusing on a task, also related to dopamine as lower levels can affect attention levels, notes Nora D. Volkow et al., authors of "Evaluating Dopamine Reward Pathway in ADHD."
Significance
Lower levels of dopamine play a significant role in your ADHD symptoms and how they can be treated. A decrease in dopamine in the reward pathway causes problems with motivation. This means that patients with ADHD need more rewards for positive behavior to change their negative behavior. In addition, the lack of motivation may keep you from doing something you find boring, which contributes to the inattention problems of ADHD. Nora D. Volkow et al., authors of "Motivation Deficit in ADHD is Associated with Dysfunction of the Dopamine Reward Pathway," measured personality and dopamine levels in ADHD patients. Compared to the controls in the study, the ADHD patients had lower scores in impulse control and achievement, as well as reduced dopamine availability at dopamine receptors.
Nutritional Implications
Since the abnormal levels of dopamine in the brains of ADHD patients can affect motivation, it can cause some nutritional problems. To increase your dopamine levels and thus increase pleasure, you may eat more. Benjamin Charles Campbell and Dan Eisenberg, authors of "Obesity, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and the Dopaminergic Reward System," explain that when you are around food, even if you do not eat it, your dopamine levels increase. With ADHD, you may consume more food to raise your dopamine levels, but in turn increase your risk of obesity. Besides food being self-medicating, Campbell and Eisenberg suggest that excess eating may also relate to poor impulse control.
Medications
Some of the medications for ADHD affect your dopamine levels. Stimulant medications, such as amphetamine and methylphenidate, work by increasing the levels of dopamine in your brain. This mechanism causes you to feel more calm, which can help with the behavioral problems of the disorder. Your doctor will raise your doses of a stimulant medication slowly until you reach the amount necessary to control your ADHD symptoms. Taking inappropriate doses of these medications can cause dopamine levels to rise dramatically, causing euphoria. In addition, taking stimulant medications in any way other than how your doctor prescribed them can increase your risk of becoming addicted to the medications, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Dietary Supplements
To make dopamine, your body takes the amino acid tyrosine and converts it. Several foods contain tyrosine, such as avocados and bananas. As the Franklin Institute reports, your body needs several vitamins and minerals when making dopamine, such as iron and vitamin B-6. Having a deficit in these nutrients may affect ADHD symptoms. For example, 84 percent of children with ADHD have a deficit in iron that effects cognition, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Your doctor can test if you have any nutritional deficits and can recommend appropriate supplements.
References
- National Institute of Mental Health: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Franklin Institute: The Human Brain -- Proteins
- University of Michigan Health System: Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Stimulant ADHD Medications -- Methylphenidate and Amphetamines
- "The Journal of the American Medical Association"; Evaluating Dopamine Reward Pathway in ADHD; Nora D. Volkow, MD, et al.; September 2009
- "Molecular Psychiatry"; Motivation Deficit in ADHD is Associated with Dysfunction of the Dopamine Reward Pathway; N.D. Volkow, G-J. Wang, J.H. Newcorn, S.H. Kollins, T.L. Wigal, F. Telang, J.S. Fowler, R.Z. Goldstein, N. Klein, J. Logan, C. Wong and J.M. Swanson; September 2010
