Neurotherapies for ADHD

Thirty years ago, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was still by many considered a myth of naughty children suffering from poor parenting. The past 3 decades of neuroimaging, however, have shown that ADHD is associated with differences in brain structure and function, and ADHD is therefore now considered a neurodevelopmental disorder. One of the most revolutionary insights we gained from neuroimaging is that the brain is extremely plastic- even in adulthood- with a bidirectional pathway between brain and behaviour. This insight has led to the advent of neurotherapies that can modify brain function abnormalities and with that, behaviour. The talk will review brain structure and function abnormalities in ADHD, discuss neuroplasticity, and review recent brain modulation therapies such as fMRI-neurofeedback and non-invasive brain stimulation such as transcranial magnetic, direct current and trigeminal nerve stimulation. Professor Katya Rubia, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. Chair: Dr Juliet Foster