How
Does ADD/ADHD
Affect An Individual's Perceptual Abilities?
Although, ADD/ADHD
starts in the brain, it involves the entire sensorium (vision,
smell, touch, hearing, etc.,) as well as the inner world of
cognition and emotion. When there is not a sufficient amount
of neural connections needed to process the "traffic" (increasing
stimulus) smoothly, competition between various stimulus results.
When there is too much competitive stimulation from multiple
external and internal sources (too much visual stimulation,
too much sound stimulation, too many internal feelings and
emotions, etc.) an individual with ADD/ADHD may become frustrated,
irritated, and aggressive. When the limited
neural network is overly taxed like this, it becomes unable
to "tune in" or focus on some stimulation, while "tuning out"
or "turning down" other stimulation.
The lack of ability to focus on a particular stimulus while
"tuning out" or "turning down" (attenuating) others, created
undue "noise" in the perceptual systems in the brain. For
an ADD/ADHD individual, this perceptual "neural-noise" is
overly noxious and continuous, so much that it appears to
be competitively assaultive, crippling any attempt to concentrate
on one stimulus while attenuating others. This leaves an ADD/ADHD
individual feeling helpless and overwhelmed, looking for a
way to survive the assaultive nature of their world.
Many strategies are possible, but two are the most common
and most easily documented. The first is regarding ADHD individuals.
ADHDs are hypothesized to have an ample supply of Acetylcholine,
as well as clear, lipofuscin-free, unobstructed Cholinergic
pathways, allowing them to actively compete and overwhelm
the intrusive messages. Thus, ADHD individuals try to operate
at a "noisier" level (being intensely hyperactive), trying
to "shout-down" the crowded array of competing stimulation
in the brain.
ADDs and LDs are hypothesized to have low Acetylcholine levels
and adverse lipofuscin populations within the Cholinergic
neural pathways, making competitive responses more difficult.
It becomes so "noisy" that it is necessary to shut down all
processing of the senses altogether, avoiding and deflecting
all stimulation. The never ending dissonance of "neural-noises"
produce a powerful competitive "numbing," almost hypnotic
agent, and ADHD individuals "give up" to the competitively
powerful, undifferentiated "white-neural-noise" that is being
generated by their sensorium because the neural-thresholds
of the sensorium have over-fired and no longer can be sustained.
Thus, unlike other children, the ADDs and LDs "shut-down"
and "tune-out," producing high Theta and/or Alpha brain waves
(see brain maps below).
