Abstract
According to epidemiological data ADHD is related to significantly increased levels of mental stress and also dissociative symptoms may manifest in ADHD (Endo et al. 2006; Johnson et al. 2007; Sugar and Ford 2012; Martinez et al. 2016). In this context, disturbed developmental processes might play a key role in individual ontogenesis of resilience mechanisms which may create increased sensitivity with respect stressful experiences that may lead to manifestations of pathological dissociative processes that increase attentional and affective disturbances in many children with ADHD. In a wider context these findings suggest new contexts and explanations of various interesting ADHD related topics such as primitive reflexes, balance difficulties, disturbed attentional and motor functions, stress experiences and problem of consciousness and its integrative functions in ADHD. In this context ADHD development is also linked to deficits of neural mechanisms that might underlie specific changes in attentional functions and decreased cognitive control that frequently may be linked to disturbed inhibitory functions (Barkley 1997; Solanto et al. 2001; Sonuga-Barke 2003; Castellanos et al. 2006; Toplak et al. 2005; Antonini et al. 2015; Martinez et al. 2016). This process of disinhibition may cause that more primitive functions may become incongruent with higher levels of attentional and cognitive neural processes, which may lead to neural interference that is also observed as a response to cognitive conflict. This developmentally based neural dysregulation and “dissolution” might explain basic neural mechanisms related to increased sensitivity with respect to stress stimuli from social environment and high occurrence of dissociative symptoms in ADHD children.
Keywords
- ADHD
- Dissolution
- Dissociation
- Stress
- Primitive reflexes
Portions of ideas in this chapter were previously published in the journal article: Konicarova, J. and Bob, P. (2013). Principle of dissolution and primitive reflexes in ADHD. Activitas Nervosa Superior, 55, 74–78. Included with permission from Springer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Allen, M. C., & Capute, A. J. (1986). The evolution of primitive reflexes in extremely premature infants. Pediatric Research, 20, 1284–1289.
Andermann, A. A. (1997). Hughlings Jackson’s deductive science of the nervous system: A product of his thought collective and formative years. Neurology, 48, 471–481.
Antonini, T. N., Becker, S. P., Tamm, L., & Epstein, J. N. (2015). Hot and cool executive functions in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 21, 584–595.
Arnsten, A. F. (2009). Toward a new understanding of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder pathophysiology: An important role for prefrontal cortex dysfunction. CNS Drugs, 23(Suppl 1), 33–41.
Baillieux, H., De Smet, H. J., Paquier, P. F., De Deyn, P. P., & Marien, P. (2008). Cerebellar neurocognition: Insights into the bottom of the brain. Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, 110(8), 763–773.
Barkley, R. (1997). Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: Constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 65–94.
Berquin, P. C., Giedd, J. N., Jacobsen, L. K., Hamburger, S. D., Krain, A. L., Rapoport, J. L., & Castellanos, F. X. (1998). Cerebellum in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A morphometric MRI study. Neurology, 50(4), 1087–1093.
Buderath, P., Gärtner, K., Frings, M., Christiansen, H., Schoch, B., Konczak, J., Gizewski, E. R., Hebebrand, J., & Timmann, D. (2009). Postural and gait performance in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Gait & Posture, 29(2), 249–254.
Capute, A. J., & Accardo, P. J. (1991). Developmental disabilities in infancy and childhood. Baltimore: Paul Brooks.
Castellanos, F. X., Sonuga-Barke, E. J., Milham, M. P., & Tannock, R. (2006). Characterizing cognition in ADHD: Beyond executive dysfunction. Trends in Cognitive Science, 10, 117–123.
D’Agati, E., Casarelli, L., Pitzianti, M. B., & Pasini, A. (2010). Overflow movements and white matter abnormalities in ADHD. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 34(3), 441–445.
Ellenberger, H. F. (1970). The discovery of the unconscious: The history and evolution of dynamic psychiatry. New York: Basic.
Ellis, M. D., Drogos, J., Carmona, C., Keller, T., & Dewald, J. P. (2012). Neck rotation modulates flexion synergy torques indicating an ipsilateral reticulospinal source for impairment in stroke. Journal of Neurophysiology, 108(11), 3096–3104.
Endo, T., Sugiyama, T., & Someya, T. (2006). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dissociative disorder among abused children. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 60, 434–438.
Fagiolini, M., Jensen, C. L., & Champagne, F. A. (2009). Epigenetic influences on brain development and plasticity. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 19, 207–212.
Franz, E. A., & Gillett, G. (2011). John Hughlings Jackson’s evolutionary neurology: A unifying framework for cognitive neuroscience. Brain, 134, 3114–3120.
Ghanizadeh, A. (2011). Predictors of postural stability in children with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 15(7), 604–610.
Hogan, R. E., & Kaiboriboon, K. (2003). The “dreamy state”: John Hughlings-Jackson’s ideas of epilepsy and consciousness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1740–1747.
Hogan, R. E., & Kaiboriboon, K. (2004). John Hughlings-Jackson’s writings on the auditory aura and localization of the auditory cortex. Epilepsia, 45, 834–837.
Jackson, J. H. (1884). The Croonian lectures on evolution and dissolution of the nervous system. British Medical Journal, 1, 591–593, 660–3, 703–7.
Jackson, J. H. (1931). Selected writings of John Hughlins Jackson. In J. Taylor (Ed.), On epilepsy and epileptiform convulsions (Vol. 1). London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Jacyna, L. S. (2011). Process and progress: John Hughlings Jackson’s philosophy of science. Brain, 134, 3121–3126.
Johnson, K. A., Robertson, I. H., Kelly, S. P., Silk, T. J., Barry, E., Dáibhis, A., Watchorn, A., Keavey, M., Fitzgerald, M., Gallagher, L., Gill, M., & Bellgrove, M. A. (2007). Dissociation in performance of children with ADHD and high-functioning autism on a task of sustained attention. Neuropsychologia, 45, 2234–2245.
Keshavan, M. S., & Yeragani, V. K. (1987). Primitive reflexes in psychiatry. Lancet, 1, 1264.
Kolb, B., & Gibb, R. (2011). Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20, 265–276.
Konicarova, J., & Bob, P. (2012). Retained primitive reflexes and ADHD in children. Activitas Nervosa Superior, 54, 135–138.
Links, K. A., Merims, D., Binns, M. A., Freedman, M., & Chow, T. W. (2010). Prevalence of primitive reflexes and Parkinsonian signs in dementia. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 37, 601–607.
Makris, N., Biederman, J., Monuteaux, M. C., & Seidman, L. J. (2009). Towards conceptualizing a neural systems-based anatomy of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Developmental Neuroscience, 31(1–2), 36–49.
Martinez, L., Prada, E., Satler, C., Tavares, M. C., & Tomaz, C. (2016). Executive dysfunctions: The role in attention deficit hyperactivity and post-traumatic stress neuropsychiatric disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1230. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01230.
McPhillips, M., & Jordan-Black, J. A. (2007). Primary reflex persistence in children with reading difficulties (dyslexia): A cross-sectional study. Neuropsychologia, 45, 748–754.
McPhillips, M., Hepper, P. G., & Mulhern, G. (2000). Effects of replicating primary-reflex movements on specific reading difficulties in children: A randomised, double-blind, controlled trial. Lancet, 355, 537–541.
Meares, R. (1999). The contribution of Hughlings Jackson to an understanding of dissociation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 1850–1855.
Nicolson, S. E., Chabon, B., Larsen, K. A., Kelly, S. E., Potter, A. W., & Stern, T. A. (2011). Primitive reflexes associated with delirium: A prospective trial. Psychosomatics, 52, 507–512.
Niklasson, M. (2013). The relation between postural movement and bilateral motor integration: Comment on Lin, et al. (2012). Perceptual and Motor Skills, 117, 647–650.
O’Halloran, C. J., Kinsella, G. J., & Storey, E. (2012). The cerebellum and neuropsychological functioning: A critical review. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 34(1), 35–56.
Polatajko, H. J. (1999). Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD): Alias, the clumsy child syndrome. In K. Whitmore, H. Hart, & G. Willems (Eds.), A neurodevelopmental approach to specific learning disorders (pp. 119–133). London: Mac Keith Press.
Sanders, R. D., & Gillig, P. M. (2011). Reflexes in psychiatry. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 8, 24–29.
Shaw, P., & Rabin, C. (2009). New insights into attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder using structural neuroimaging. Current Psychiatry Reports, 11(5), 393–398.
Solanto, M. V., Abikoff, H., Sonuga-Barke, E., Schachar, R., Logan, G. D., Wigal, T., Hechtman, L., Hinshaw, S., & Turkel, E. (2001). The ecological validity of delay aversion and response inhibition as measures of impulsivity in AD/HD a supplement to the NIMH multi-modal treatment study of AD/HD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 215–228.
Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2003). The dual pathway model of AD/HD: An elaboration of neuro-developmental characteristics. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 27, 593–604.
Sugar, J., & Ford, J. D. (2012). Peritraumatic reactions and posttraumatic stress disorder in psychiatrically impaired youth. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 25, 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21668.
Taylor, M., Houghton, S., & Chapman, E. (2004). Primitive reflexes and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Developmental origins of classroom dysfunction. International Journal of Special Education, 19, 23–37.
Teicher, M. H., Tomoda, A., & Andersen, S. L. (2006). Neurobiological consequences of early stress and childhood maltreatment: Are results from human and animal studies comparable? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1071, 313–323.
Toplak, M. E., Jain, U., & Tannock, R. (2005). Executive and motivational processes in adolescents with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Behavioral and Brain Functions, 1, 8.
Touwen, B. C. L. (1984). Primitive reflexes-conceptional or semantic problem. In H. F. R. Prechtl (Ed.), Continuity of neural functions from prenatal to postnatal life. Oxford, Great Britain: Spastics International Medical Publications.
Youssef, H. A., & Waddington, J. L. (1988). Primitive (developmental) reflexes and diffuse cerebral dysfunction in schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder: Overrepresentation in patients with tardive dyskinesia. Biological Psychiatry, 23, 791–796.
Zafeiriou, D. I. (2004). Primitive reflexes and postural reactions in the neurodevelopmental examination. Pediatric Neurology, 31, 1–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bob, P., Konicarova, J. (2018). Neural Dissolution, Dissociation and Stress in ADHD. In: ADHD, Stress, and Development. SpringerBriefs in Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96494-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96494-2_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96492-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96494-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)