ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus

In this episode, I discuss ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder): what it is, the common myths, and the biology and psychology of ADHD.

I discuss both behavioral and pharmacologic treatments for ADHD, and brain-machine interface tools. I also discuss behavioral training protocols that can improve focus in people with ADHD and those without ADHD, and for people of different ages. I discuss the role of dopamine in coordinating 'default-mode' and 'task-related' neural networks, attentional "blinks" (lapses of attention) and how to overcome them, and the role of actual blinks in time perception and attention. Finally, I review some of the prescription and over-the-counter compounds for increasing focus such as Adderall, Ritalin, Modafinil and Armodafinil, the racetams, Alpha-GPC and phosphatidylserine and the role of diet for managing ADHD (and the controversies of diet for ADHD).

The role of cell phones/technology in ADHD and ADHD-like challenges with focus are also discussed. Throughout, both basic science and clinical scenarios, as well as applicable tools and resources are covered.

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction & Note About Diagnosis
00:03:27 Sponsors
00:07:56 ADHD vs. ADD: Genetics, IQ, Rates in Kids & Adults
00:13:00 Attention & Focus, Impulse Control
00:14:57 Hyper-focus
00:16:45 Time Perception
00:18:25 The Pile System
00:20:00 Working Memory
00:24:10 Hyper-Focus & Dopamine
00:26:40 Neural Circuits In ADHD: Default Mode Network & Task-Related Networks
00:32:57 Low Dopamine in ADHD & Stimulant Use & Abuse
00:37:10 Sugar, Ritalin, Adderall, Modafinil & Armodafinil
00:47:00 Non-Prescribed Adderall, Caffeine, Nicotine
00:49:18 How Stimulants “Teach” the Brains of ADHD Children to Focus
00:52:00 When To Medicate: A Highly Informed (Anecdotal) Case Study
00:56:35 Elimination Diets & Allergies In ADHD
01:04:46 Omega-3 Fatty Acids: EPAs & DHAs
01:07:00 Modulation vs Mediation of Biological Processes
01:10:50 Attentional Blinks
01:16:56 Open Monitoring & 17 minute Focus Enhancement
01:22:50 Blinking, Dopamine & Time Perception; & Focus Training
01:30:10 Reverberatory Neural & Physical Activity
01:33:40 Adderall, Ritalin & Blink Frequency
01:35:00 Cannabis
01:37:30 Interoceptive Awareness
01:41:15 Ritalin, Adderall, Modafinil, Armodafinil; Smart Drugs & Caffeine: Dangers
01:48:05 DHA Fatty Acids, Phosphatidylserine
01:50:54 Ginko Biloba
01:51:45 Modafinil & Armodafanil: Dopamine Action & Orexin
01:56:19 Acetylcholine: Circuits Underlying Focus; Alpha-GPC
01:59:04 L-Tyrosine, (PEA) Phenylethylamine
02:01:23 Racetams, Noopept
02:05:15 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Combining Technology & Pharmacology
02:09:14 Smart Phones & ADHD & Sub-Clinical Focus Issues In Adults & Kids
02:14:30 Synthesis/Summary
02:16:10 Support for Podcast & Research, Supplement Resources

The Huberman Lab Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

[hubermanlab]

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Thank you for your interest in science! -- Andrew

[Bradaintfunny]

As someone with ADHD I am excited to make it through 7 minutes of this 2 hour podcast.

[vickym.]

The true ADHD experience is having to go back every couple of minutes because you lost focus and stopped listening

[livetechsupport]

My intensity of energy, daydreaming, coupled with inability to motivate myself to do cognitively demanding uncreative sit-down tasks like writing were the bane of my existence until age 38 when I finally got diagnosed. Even though it’s been a few years on since my diagnosis, it’s still hard to manage. Key things for me: sufficient sleep, less caffeine, sufficient exercise, sufficient protein, and sufficient TALKING TO PEOPLE REGULARLY.

[andreacondon]

I saw the length of this podcast and came straight to the comments! Lol any body else enjoy the irony of it? 😂 This will take me a month to get through😊.

[mayankjain]

Actionable Items from the video without medication-
1. Reduce sugar consumption.
2. Rapid blinking to increase dopamine and do work. - 20 seconds or whatever suits you.
3. Eating stuff with Omega 3 Fatty Acids - Walnuts, Peanuts, Eggs, Milk etc.
4. Meditate - can be in 2 ways -
a. Closed eyes - While focusing on breath. - 15 min.
b. Dilated Vision - Look at a point, and without moving your eyes try to focus and perceive the environment.

Hope this helps, this channel is an absolute goldmine

[LockeLeon]

Watching this video while procrastinating is just poetry.

[nouraahmad]

this is the first Huberman podcast I listen to and I’m amazed at how he his able to explain complex concepts in such an understandable way .

[antoniovazquezalvarez]

The scene from Malcom in the middle when hale starts one task then goes to another task and it goes On until he has the engine from the car out is the best depiction of real life ADHD I’ve seen. Starting a task then seeing something else needs work and is more important than the current task.

[risarae]

I genuinely love this podcast but having a 2+ hour show targeted to people with adhd.... bold.... I will be listening to this in parts until I forget 😂

[knqisfw]

As someone with adhd …this took me 3 months to watch, thank you andrew😂

[djpoojab]

Late age diagnosed ADHD, and now I'm also diving into the connection peri-menopause has on increased ADHD symptoms, a topic with limited studies and would greatly appreciated if you were to cover this in one of your podcasts,
Thanks for this insightful episode!

[kenversusryu]

As someone with adhd I think time stamps are a necessity with every YouTube video. Thank you.

[ptyspawnbinbash]

For all those with ADHD who have difficulties watching or listening to these two-hour episodes, consider going for a walk and listening to these as podcasts. I listen to his videos while walking my dogs. I walk my dogs for about an hour a day, so it might take a couple of days to finish the longer videos. For me, it seems easier to listen and focus while walking. I've been able to finish all the videos I've started so far.

[isaacjohnklein]

I'm only 10 minutes in and sincerely want to listen to this entire video, but I'm losing focus and browsing other tabs. The irony isn't lost on me. - I clicked the subscribe button in hopes that I'll remember to come back and watch this another time.

[nishanthsivan]

I'm on my self-improvement journey. I've been weight training six times a week for the past 2 years. I had this mindset that I'm a disciplined and self-aware individual that takes radical responsibility on one's health and well-being. Whereas post watching this podcast, gave me a realization that I have been dealing with symptoms of ADHD mentioned, which is of having high attention and focus on things which are intriguing and exciting to me. Also, I had struggled with following symptoms dating back to teenage, backing up that it is possible ADD/ADHD such as procrastination, lack of attention and focus on daily events like extensive period of studying & not having my mind while in a conversation: like drifting off in my own thoughts. I am going to take conscious steps mentioned in this podcast to improve this condition. Wishing well to those who are facing these issues as well. Thank you to Dr. Huberman for creating content of educational knowledge and research presented for simple comprehension.

[deedsofdecapitation]

For me the absolute worst part of having ADHD is the working memory aspect of it. It's unbelievably frustrating to be learning something technical for the first time at work, seeing other people calmly process the demonstration in their mind and remember the intricate steps of how to complete the task, (like it's a piece of cake), meanwhile I forget the demonstration literally as soon as it ends, remembering maybe 1 step and that's it. The next 2 times I'm performing the task, I feel like a complete idiot, but thankfully I noticed some coworkers and even my boss sometimes not judging me, but instead helping me.

[KierMailan]

Here's a list of some things to help you with ADHD in my experience. I've always felt I've had to work harder than the average person (neurotypical) person just to be "normal". With both successes & failures. I've honed in on some of what has worked for me and what I'm emphasizing more again now.

1. Pomadoro technique, working in 15-60min intervals to focus on one task while giving myself a short break in between. It simplifies things to prevent "overwhelm" / anxiety and helps manage my perspective of time (ADHD we lack perception of time often we understiminate how long it takes to do something or we get scattered). We can often forget what we did the whole day even if it was a good day. So this sorta helps keep your perspective of time & pacing.

2. I always pat my pockets or peek into my bag if possible before leaving my place or a venue. This is a habit that has helped me not lose things. And if I feel like I forgot to lock a door let's say it never hurts to double check. Also, creating designated spots let's say to place your keys or a specific spot you always put your journal. Again this can be a simple habit that will save you from losing stuff thou it will still happen. 😅

3. Fitness. Both a blessing & a curse. But because we release less dopamine we often lack motivation and we experience overwhelm from procrastination/anxiety. A hard fitness routine if possible everyday in some shape or form. Will ground you & lower your resting heart rate for the rest of the day to mitigate any While also keeping your dopamine receptors stimulated in a healthy way to help with general mood, motivation. Cold showers good too for a dopamine release & to keep a calm resting heart rate in the day (preventing anxiety, hyperactivity)

4. Supplementation / Vitamins
It's better to do it with a diet obviously, but I found that it's easier to make it a habit by simply taking supplements. Requires less thought and can be made habitual. Specifically, omega 3 + D3 (omega 3 in foods is great too obv) and at night due to hyperactivity I can't sleep or if I'm triggered I tend to fixate on my thoughts all night. So ashwaganda has been great to calm down coupled with zinc + magnesium to help with overall immunity but to increase sleep quality (we are often more effected by lack of sleep so sleep quality is important), helps relax before bed. There are I'm sure other supplement recomendations out there.

5. Sobriety
I found and in my history that we are prone to impulsivity. Often drugs even weed, pornography, or too much social media tends to exacerbated ADHD symptoms with attention span and obviously lowers our baseline dopamine even further.

6. Accept it has ur greatest strength. Learn to manage it but don't be too harsh on yourself or judge it. We are often very creative divergent thinkers, we often are passionate and can go in deep on multiple interests. Under pressure we can perform better and do more, than the average person (the problem is we often work ONLY under pressure, this can be adjusted but your the one you can excell when others are panicking under pressure). You may struggle with normal life things, but you can excell at deep thinking, complex subject matter tieing multiple ideas together in a way most can't. You think outside the box and can handle complex ideas. And there are times in life where, that hyperactivity will give you the energy you need to keep going when it counts! We can be great leaders especially when we learn how to delegate with the tasks we're not interested in. And we often have the courage/passion to do things at the cutting edge or takes risks most won't. We are 300% more likely to start a business.

7. Meditation
If you can't do open eyed or a more traditional mediation I find something more active & involved form of mediation is easier to be engaged with when you have ADHD. Such as wim hof method or other breathing techniques. These also help stimulate dopamine and lower your resting heart rate for the day with all the other benefits of meditation such as attention span/will power.

8. Lack of understanding social ques. Generally, due to our brain development we may find it harder to socialize/understand social ques compared to neural typical people. I was literally mute, thou I could talk just chose not to in school for my first few years, the teachers were concerned. After some bullying later and overall always having a lot of social anxiety I've improved. I am even running my own business which involves sales! With experience, things can become habitual. Even social ques. So going out of your comfort zone and with experience it can improve greatly. Just don't beat urself up. It's a skill and a process like anything else. It is important too that you find people in your life that understand you, accept you and to whom you can be vulnerable with about what your going through.

Here are a few things I found helped with socializing:

Books (audio books are great, I struggle with reading physical books):
1. How to Win friends and Influence People
2. 48 Laws of Power
(More so to protect yourself, great for understanding dynamics in the workplace let's say or if your dating. Just helps give a better understanding of people and to prevent you from being manipulated by others too)

-Check out Charisma on Command on YouTube he's great.

9. Try journaling or some form of writing. In regards to socializing writing inherently will help you articulate yourself better in conversation with others. Such as improving your vocabulary.

More notably, writing will help organize your thoughts. As we know, we think about a lot of things, all the time, taking the time to structure those thoughts is not a bad thing. With questions or just interesting ideas. You have a gift. So it's worth writing some of those down.

If your journaling, as those with ADHD don't have the greatest short term memory. It can also help us with this and often we forget about even the positive things in our day.

10. Standing desk.
It's doesn't have to be some fancy one even. Find a shelf at the right height, a surface, anything comfortable enough to act as a standing desk. It sometimes sounds pretentious. But for us it's self-explanatory. It does make a difference.

[jacquesambron]

I've had ADD all my life, and it's been challenging to overcome. This is really informative as are all your podcasts and other formats. I just wanted to thank you for helping me to feel smarter. I love to learn, but have trouble staying with things. Listening to your podcasts in the car, as I spend a lot of time driving, helps to keep me listening. The information I have gotten from your podcasts have helped me understand more about myself and the world around me. So I'm hooked!

[KatManDuSounds]

People with adhd play this one 1.25x speed if you keep losing focus