Drugs, dopamine and drosophila -- A fly model for ADHD? | David Anderson | TEDxCaltech

David Anderson is the Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology at Caltech and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. David received an A.B. at Harvard and a Ph.D. at Rockefeller University where he trained with Nobel laureate Günter Blobel. He performed postdoctoral studies at Columbia University with Nobel laureate Richard Axel. Among his awards are Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellow, 1983-86; NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award 1986-87; Searle Scholars Award, 1987-88; Alfred P. Sloan research Fellowship in Neuroscience, Javits Investigator in Neuroscience (NIH), 1989-96; Charles Judson Herrick Award in Comparative Neurology, 1990; Alden Spencer Award in Neurobiology, Columbia University, 1999; Elected Associate, The Neurosciences Institute, 2001; American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow, 2002; American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, 2002; Alexander von Humboldt Award, 2005; elected to the National Academies of Sciences, 2007; named Allen Institute Distinguished Investigator, 2010.

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[sandytherry]

Bravo. As a 61 year old lady with adhd, I pray you can help future generations of adhd suffferers with your research. ADHD has made my life a very difficult one. I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. May God bless your work. If you ever need a human for your trials, I gladly volunteer.

[gmchessplay]

I believe people with ADHD have a problem with doing, not necessarily with understanding or learning. While someone may take time to learn something and consistently do the work to demonstrate to others and themselves that they know, someone with ADHD may learn but not do for an extended period of time, and then do only when they deem it very necessary. I think it has something to do with our short term working memory vs long term "retention" memory in conjunction with an involuntary survival mechanism (we do not want to expend unnecessary energy - because most tasks done in modern society are not actually necessary for survival)

[energizme]

I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 33. The 1st time I took the stimulant medicine it was like having the correct prescription in my proverbial eye glasses for the 1st time. Learning deficit? NO. Ability to concentrate and think clearly? YES!! Stimulant medicine makes me take a nap for 30 min, then, brain---GO!!

[MilesAndHeights]

RIP to all ADHD brains during this talk.

[GarenPhillips]

Click the little gear icon to set the video speed to 1.5x

If you already do this you have ADHD

[shenova]

i am adhd and dyslexic. i can’t wait for them to figure out how to do this for humans. it makes so much since.

[SLKnoxx]

The concept that ADHD is a dopamine problem, either the lack of or the inability of the neurotransmitters to adequately deliver it to the proper part's of the brain makes absolute sence. It explains the symptoms including drug addiction, depression and disorganization. It also covers the higher rate of nicotine addiction and obesity amount those with ADHD.

[orbik_fin]

It should be noted that a label like ADHD or autism really describes just visible behavior rather than its neurological origins, and many quite different types of "disorders" may be (wrongly) grouped under one name. Essentially, what the speaker describes is just one type of neurological difference which produces ADHD-like symptoms, and the results of this research should be applied to humans with caution.

[TroyHill]

Cool video. As someone with ADHD and siblings with the disorder as well, medication can be a total game changer. However, ADHD does seem to offer some selected advantage to some, if they can find jobs and lifestyles that work for them. I can confidently say that pretty much all of the successful entrepreneurs I know have pretty much all of the symptoms of ADHD. Restless, impulsive, risk taking, lack of or poor sleep, etc.. But the difference between success and failure seems to be that some people have found ways to work with their STRENGTHS rather than to get involved in things that expose their weaknesses. Meds can help in this regard... But ADHD is pretty interesting. It's definitely a real thing, but I think people are affected in different ways. Great video.

[andreeaistrate]

The more videos I watch about ADHD the more grateful I become about it

[soulfoodvisnu]

The only problem with being schizophrenic is that people don't accept you, you don't have a legitimized role, and you can't be comfortable about yourself. It's a social problem. Acceptance and compassion turn suffering into just a difficult moment. It's about recognizing the value of human diversity, and the talents and pitfalls of all personalities and behaviors.

[joycependleton]

Fascinating talk! The analogy of the oil on the car engine fits many medical approaches! I have a major concern with your talk automatically connecting learning disabilities with ADHD. While concentration is certainly a factor for us, the two do not always go hand in hand! I'm now 64. I was diagnosed with ADHD in the late 90s. I graduated in the top 10 of my class, and my daughter, now 41, was a presidential scholar, who rated in the top 3% of the nation. Our biggest challenges are being over-stimulated, especially her. She learns equally well in all styles. Neither of us needed tutoring for lack of ability, we needed support in how to manage how our active brains work. Stimulant meds help, and still, what we truly need is for society and people in positions like you to shed the notion that our cognitive abilities are lacking.
She didn't get the accommodations she needed in high school because they erroneously thought that "Because she tested out of first year French" she didn't really have ADHD, because students with that have problems with language". She is now a professional writer.
Your work is indeed promising, but please learn more about us as a spectrum of people, and don't limit us in your teaching to others.
I highly recommend Jessica McCabe and her Ted Talk. She also has a You tube channel called "How To ADHD". Perhaps it will give you more insight into our worlds.

[whit]

I LOVED THAT THIS TOUCHED ON THE EMOTION ASPECT! I no longer have to worry if I am the only human who contemplates the relative importance of emotion by and for, to and from everything experienced in life.

[terminalglimmer]

I agree with the need for more efficient targeting. As far as disorders go, I always tell people that medication always goes so far and the heavy lifting is the cognitive side of things. Because of the relative inefficiency of broader acting drugs, the most you get is more headroom to be able to make conscious decisions. As a psych graduate with both ADHD and Major Depression, I'm looking forward to greater strides in medicine.

[Nota]

Makes sooo much sense. It’s evoking images of people over treated just to possibly affect one or two symptoms while the rest of the person is barely awake type of thing

[patrickbateman]

As someone with ADHD (ring of fire) it’s amazing what a difference there is in the brain without meds and with meds. And than combine meds with a true desire to learn and focus (not a forced notion like you get in school but something you really want to do instead) and you can end up being hyper focused for hours. But the minute the meds wear off for me, I instantly fall of the train and become distracted by the smallest things and can end up forgetting everything. Bad enough that I can be doing task A, get up and quickly do task B for 2 min and forget what It was doing originally. And that’s the start of the issues with ADHD for me. To detail It deeper would require a few more paragraphs and some parts are hard to explain since I still don’t understand It. (Been diagnosed with ADHD ring of fire since I was about 10 years old)

[TrueSoreThumb]

Wow, really grateful for this discovery and talk! <3. (ADHD sufferer)

[jwvandegronden]

Now that wás interesting!! And entertaining without losing complex content or derail into condescension! Loved it.

[missyjenn]

Amazing talk filled with great analogies on how our current psychiatric drugs is essentially akin to pouring oil all over the engine and hitting the target

[clanso]

Quick note on side effects, what I'm currently taking surpresses my feeling of hunger almost completely and what I took before that changed my personality towards the apathetic and basically drained me of most of my energy levels. absolutely right about that