Pediatric Neurological Associates, White Plains, New York. For Kids to Read. Children with ADD have difficulty sustaining attention selectively, are easily distracted, and are impulsive. They may have difficulties following a set of instructions, and often appear not to be listening to what has been said. Additional symptoms consist of shifting between uncompleted activities, tending to blurt out answers to questions before they have been completed, and losing things.
Current theory implicates insufficient activity of the frontal lobes.
In the last two decades, this disorder has been known variously as hyperkinesis, hyperactivity, minimal brain dysfunction and, most recently, Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity. This disorder, which characteristically occurs in youngsters with normal or above average intelligence, can seriously interfere with the child's ability to learn and to get along with others. It is generally accepted that Attention Deficit Disorder involves neurological or brain dysfunction. Recent work has involved dysfunction of chemical messengers in the frontal lobe and brainstem regions. Specifically, it appears that dopamine and norepinephrine have important roles in the ability of the brain to select and tune into certain relevant stimuli.