People with ADHD who tend to fidget may have a genetic trait that makes them ``explorers''
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can become an obstacle to interacting with others in modern society, where people are expected to remain calm in one place. Studies examining the genetic characteristics of people with ADHD have found that people with ADHD have a nomadic tendency to explore.
Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foraging | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
ADHD linked to evolutionary success in ancient humans
https://newatlas.com/science/adhd-evolutionary-benefits-foraging-explore-exploit/
Although ADHD was defined as a relatively new diagnosis in the 1990s, similar symptoms have been recognized for centuries. Research based on genetics has shown that ``ADHD is likely to be related to genetic factors inherited from parents,'' and some researchers are wondering what the benefits of this condition are in human evolution. Some people are looking for something.
In the early 2000s, researchers studied the Ariar tribe, a nomadic tribe in northern Kenya, and found that many Ariar people had the genetic mutation DRD4/7R, which is commonly seen in people with ADHD. . Although having this gene does not necessarily mean that a person has ADHD, DRD4/7R has been linked to cravings for food and drugs, desire for novelty things, and ADHD. From this, it has been pointed out that DRD4/7R may have been advantageous when the Ariar tribe, who lived a nomadic life, explored in search of food and water sources.
A new study published in 2024 reported that an experiment was conducted based on the hypothesis that ADHD may have explorer-like characteristics.
David Barrack of the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues had subjects play a game called ``click on a bush to collect as many berries as possible in eight minutes'' and then test whether they all had symptoms of ADHD. I have confirmed. In this game, in addition to having to place the cursor firmly on the bushes, the amount of berries harvested decreased each time the player collected them from the same bush. The subjects were then asked to decide whether to concentrate on picking berries from a few bushes or risk spending more time picking berries from a larger number of bushes.
Approximately 450 people played the game and found that those with higher ADHD scores tended to move to new bushes faster than others, and they also collected more berries overall. It seems that it has become clear.
These results suggest that ADHD-like traits may be less effective at tasks that involve staying in one place and gathering a lot of information, as they quickly lose interest. They may have an advantage in competitive tasks such as obtaining information faster than others,' he said, considering that people with ADHD may be better suited for these specific tasks.
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