ADHD

Executive function and motivation

ADHD arises from a core deficit in executive functions (e.g., attentional control, inhibitory control, and working memory), which are a set of cognitive processes that are required to successfully select and monitor behaviours that facilitate the attainment of one's chosen goals. The executive function impairments that occur in ADHD individuals result in problems with staying organised, time keeping, procrastination control, maintaining concentration, paying attention, ignoring distractions, regulating emotions, and remembering details. People with ADHD appear to have unimpaired long-term memory, and deficits in long-term recall appear to be attributed to impairments in working memory. Due to the rates of brain maturation and the increasing demands for executive control as a person gets older, ADHD impairments may not fully manifest themselves until adolescence or even early adulthood. Conversely, brain maturation trajectories, potentially exhibiting diverging longitudinal trends in ADHD, may support a later improvement in executive functions after reaching adulthood.