ADHD brains not only look different from normal brains, they also function differently. Scientists can now compare the functioning of ADHD brains and “normal” brains.

One study used brain scans on adults with and without ADHD to measure the level of brain activity in their frontal lobes when they were concentrating, and again when they were at rest. The differences were startling.

When people with ADHD concentrated, the activity level in the frontal lobe decreased from its level at rest. In people without ADHD, just the opposite was true. This was a giant stepping stone in establishing ADHD as a biological disease.

ADHD and Brain Waves

At New York University, researchers found that subjects with ADHD showed eleven different patterns of brain waves when compared with the brain waves of “normal” people. Studies conducted at the University of Tennessee reported that people with ADHD showed an increase in slower brain waves in the frontal lobe region when they concentrated. This finding corresponds with other studies indicating a lower level of brain waves in this region.