Minimal Brain Dysfunction

Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) is an obsolete term used in the early 1960s to describe what we know today as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD.) The original term was changed in the late 1960s to Hyperkinetic Disorder of Childhood, later on to Attention Deficit Disorder, and most recently to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) or ADHD refers to an impairment of brain functions that affects the area of the brain associated with perception, behavior, and academic ability. More specifically, ADHD affects one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language, and is characterized by dyslexia, difficulty in writing, hyperactivity, or mental retardation.

The original term made reference to the degree of lesion or damage to the brain causing the dysfunction. As opposed to the big brain damage found in the diagnosis of cerebral palsy or retardation, the damage in Minimal Brain...