ADHD as a Model of Brain-Behavior Relationships Leonard F. Koziol, Deborah Ely Budding, and Dana Chidekel Series Title: Springer Briefs in Neuroscience Subseries: The Vertically Organized Brain in Theory and Practice It's been a basic neurological given: the brain does our thinking, and has evolved to do the thinking, as controlled by the neocortex. In this schema, all dysfunction can be traced to problems in the brain’s lateral interactions. But in scientific reality, is this really true? Challenging this traditional cortico-centric view is a body of research emphasizing the role of the structures that control movement-the brain's vertical organization-in behavioral symptoms. Using a well-known, widely studied disorder as a test case, ADHD as a Model of Brain-Behavior Relationships offers an innovative framework for integrating neuroscience and behavioral research to refine diagnostic process and advance the understanding of disorders. Identifying a profound disconnect between current neuropsychological testing and the way the brain actually functions, this revision of the paradigm critiques the DSM and ICD in terms of the connectedness of brain structures regarding cognition and behavior. The authors argue for a large-scale brain network approach to pathology instead of the localizing that is so common historically, and for an alternate set of diagnostic criteria proposed by the NIMH. Included in the coverage: The diagnosis of ADHD: history and context. ADHD and neuropsychological nomenclature Research Domain Criteria: a dimensional approach to evaluating disorder The development of motor skills, executive function, and a relation to ADHD The role of the cerebellum in cognition, emotion, motivation, and dysfunction How large-scale brain networks interact Heralding a more accurate future of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders, ADHD as a Model of Brain-Behavior Relationships represents a major step forward for neuropsychologists, child psychologists, and psychiatrists, or any related profession interested in a neuroscientific understanding of brain function. ​

Since ADHD became a well-known condition, decades ago, much of the research and clinical discourse has focused on youth. In recent years, attention has expanded to the realm of adult ADHD and the havoc it can wreak on many aspects of adult life, including driving safety, financial management, education and employment, and interpersonal difficulties. Adult ADHD-Focused Couple Therapy breaks new ground in explaining and suggesting approaches for treating the range of challenges that ADHD can create within a most important and delicate relationship: the intimate couple. With the help of contributors who are experts in their specialties, Pera and Robin provide the clinician with a step-by-step, nuts-and-bolts approach to help couples enhance their relationship and improve domestic cooperation. This comprehensive guide includes psychoeducation, medication guidelines, cognitive interventions, co-parenting techniques, habit change and communication strategies, and ADHD-specific clinical suggestions around sexuality, money, and cyber-addictions. More than twenty detailed case studies provide real-life examples of ways to implement the interventions.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is one of the least understood medical conditions. With no specific test available, misdiagnosis is common and the results can be devastating for both the parents and the child. Because no one can agree on a single definition for the disorder, confusion is rampant and treatment is only mildly successful at best. Attention Deficit Disorder Misdiagnosis addresses these problems in a systematic and logical fashion. It presents a battery of tests for properly diagnosing ADD, stresses its relationship to brain behavior and proposes practical treatment solutions. Written by an expert in the field who also happens to be the mother of an ADD child, it presents a unique perspective on this complex yet all too pervasive disorder. This is an essential text for doctors, parents and any individual working with an ADD child or adult. It will also help professionals in related disciplines approach ADD as a biochemical medical disorder and understand the reasons for its inherent complexity and frequent misdiagnosis.

Psychiatric diseases have a highly complex etiology, aggregating in families but not segregating in a traditional Mendelian manner. Recent approaches to understanding the causes of psychiatric disease have focused on describing the genetic contribution to major psychiatric illnesses; the use of large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and exome sequencing has enabled a systematic exploration of genetic risk factors and identified over 100 independent genomic loci significantly associated with psychiatric diseases; however, there remains uncertainty about the causal genes involved in disease pathogenesis, and how their function is regulated. Since many GWAS variants reside in non-coding regions, the disease-associated common variants might be enriched in regulatory domains, including enhancers and regions of active chromatin state. These lead us to focus on the possible role of non-sequence-based genomic variation in health and disease. Of particular interest are epigenetic modifications that regulate gene expression through modifications to DNA, RNA, histone proteins, and chromatin. The availability of high-throughput profiling methods for quantifiying epigenomic modifications in large numbers of samples has enabled us to perform epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) aimed at screening methylomic variations associated with environmental exposure and disease. Thus systematic integration of genetic, epigenetic and epidemiological approaches will contribute to improving our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease phenotypes.

Every chapter has been updated to reflect current thought and research in the field. Chapters devoted to specialized tests in neuropsychology have been updated to reflect new editions of these popular instruments. Special topic chapters have been added such as working in pediatric coma rehabilitation, using the planning, attention, sequential, simultaneous theory of neuropsychological processes, additions on ADHD, and more appear written by the leading experts and practitioners in these fields to reflect the demands of current practice in clinical child neuropsychology.