ADHD stimulants appear to work less by sharpening focus and more by waking up the brain. Brain scans revealed that these medications activate reward and alertness systems, helping children stay interested in tasks they would normally avoid. The drugs even reversed brain patterns linked to sleep deprivation. Researchers say this could complicate ADHD diagnoses if poor sleep is the real underlying problem.

ADHD stimulants appear to work less by sharpening focus and more by waking up the brain. Brain scans revealed that these medications activate reward and alertness systems, helping children stay interested in tasks they would normally avoid. The drugs even reversed brain patterns linked to sleep deprivation. Researchers say this could complicate ADHD diagnoses if poor sleep is the real underlying problem.

edit here is another article

https://medicine.washu.edu/news/stimulant-adhd-medications-work-differently-than-thought/

  • Ccx [they/them/🐰]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    2·
    9 days ago

    Norepinephrine is another neurotransmitter highly implicated in ADHD.

    Quoting from Wikipedia: Norepinephrine release is lowest during sleep, rises during wakefulness, and reaches much higher levels during situations of stress or danger, in the so-called fight-or-flight response. In the brain, norepinephrine increases arousal and alertness, promotes vigilance, enhances formation and retrieval of memory, and focuses attention; it also increases restlessness and anxiety.

    The trouble of being to regulate wakefulness has been in my personal experience more pronounced than attention jumping around. But that’s likely fairly individual. I wouldn’t be surprised if the inattentive subtype & hyperactive subtype categories we use now were related to balance of these two.