14 DAY TRIAL // The level of activity in brain areas responsible for movement planning is far lower in boys than in girls about the same age, even if both groups suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The discovery was made by researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, after studying an extensive number of test subjects and carefully analyzing a series of MRI scans.
Health experts believe that this happens because girls' brains mature about one year faster than that of young boys, so it's only natural that their motor centers would evolve as well, though admittedly slower than those of girls not suffering from ADHD. As a result, boys suffering from deficits in movement control maintain these symptoms until well in adolescence, when significant portions of their brains mature enough to allow for the organism to surpass this affliction.
"These findings suggest that [gender-related] differences in children with ADHD extend beyond symptom presentation to development of motor control. By elementary school, girls with ADHD may be relatively free from motor skills deficits because the female brain matures earlier than the male brain," explained lead study author E. Mark Mahone, Ph.D., ABPP, a research scientist at the Institute.
He went on to say that "Studying motor function is critical to understanding the causes and effects of developmental disorders such as ADHD. Assessment of motor skills gives researchers a window into brain development, and allows us to more precisely understand the nature of cognitive difficulties" in such disorders.
The main achievement of this study is that it showed doctors they've been going about studying ADHD the wrong way, in that boys and girls need to be studied separately, and starting from an earlier age, for the most conclusive results. Further investigation could reveal the mechanism through which developmental brain problems occur, and, maybe, potential ways of stopping them.