STUDY COULD AID DIAGNOSIS OF A.D.D.

Brain Difference Found In Hyperactive Boys

Stanford researchers for the first time have found a distinct difference in
the brain function of boys who have attention deficit disorder and those
who do not.

If confirmed, their study could lead to a better diagnosis for the
condition that causes children to be inattentive, hyperactive and often
disruptive. Some critics have questioned whether the disorder is
over-diagnosed, leading some children to be medicated when they are merely
high-energy.

Although the study involved only a small group of boys, and the Stanford
scientists acknowledged much more research is needed, they said it offered
hope for parents unsure of what ails a hyperactive child.

``We're excited about the promise of this technology to open up the black
box of the child's mind,'' said John Gabrieli, an associate professor of
psychology at Stanford and co-author of the study. ``This is a small study,
this is a first step, but it is a promising step.''

Attention deficit disorder is the most common psychiatric disorder of
childhood, affecting as many as 5 percent of all children. Symptoms usually
begin before the child reaches school age and affect boys at least twice as
often as girls. About 50 percent of boys outgrow the symptoms, but the rest
struggle with the condition into adulthood.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, researchers scanned the
brains of 16 boys as they played a game designed to test their ability to
control impulses. Ten of the boys had been diagnosed with attention deficit
disorder (ADD) and six boys did not have the condition.

The Stanford study is also the first to show that Ritalin, the drug most
commonly used to treat ADD, has different effects on the brains of people
with and without the disorder.

A Los Altos pediatrician who assisted in the research said the findings
should offer encouragement to the parents of children with attention
deficit disorder. Now, parents must rely on the observations of teachers
and others, but ``there are few objective tests'' for ADD, said Glenn Austin.

``This is not just someone's psychological mechanism of avoiding sitting
still in school,'' he said.

The study also confirms that Ritalin is effective in treating the disorder,
Austin said. Ritalin is a stimulant that paradoxically calms hyperactive
children. But its wide use has been a source of controversy, and critics
argue that Ritalin is prescribed too often to children who do not have a
definitive diagnosis of ADD.

Land Tanner, director of behavioral and developmental pediatrics at
UCSF-Stanford Health Care, who was not involved in the research, said the
study group is too small to draw any lasting conclusions. But he added that
the Ritalin findings should ease the minds of parents worried about
drugging their children.

``The thing it really adds or suggests is that Ritalin is really working in
a different way for kids who have this disorder,'' Tanner said. ``That's
new. That's important. There hasn't been any real proof of that.''

The Stanford researchers' findings are reported today in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Checked-by: derek rea