注意力不集中？原來這是一種大腦的疾病

People With ADHD Have Different Brains
患有多動症的人有着不同的大？

Certain brain structures related to emotion and reward are smaller in people with the disorder, new research finds.
據最新的研究表明，患有多動症的人的大腦中與情感和獎勵有關的組成結構比常人更小。

The largest-ever brain imaging study on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has led scientists to say the condition should be considered a neurological disorder, not just a behavioral one.
有史以來，對多動症最深入的腦成像研究讓科學家發現，這應該是一種神經系統疾病，而不僅僅是一種行爲。

The brain structures of children with ADHD differ in small but significant ways from those of normally developing children, according to the findings, which were published online in the journal Lancet Psychiatry on Feb. 15.
2月15日，發表在柳葉刀醫學雜誌上的研究結果顯示，患有多動症兒童的大腦結構比正常發育的兒童更小，但也更能發揮效用。

Up to 11 percent of U.S. children and around 5 percent of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with ADHD, which causes symptoms like difficulty paying attention, impulsivity, irritability and forgetfulness.
高達百分之11的美國孩子以及百分之5左右的美國成人被診斷患有多動症，這導致了他們產生注意力難以集中、衝動、煩躁、健忘等症狀。

The study’s authors hope that the research will help to combat widespread misunderstanding of ADHD, which is often seen as some sort of motivational deficit or character failing rather than a real disorder. The findings show that the disorder is as real as other neuropsychiatric disorders like depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
該項研究的作者希望這能夠幫助解決大衆對多動症的普遍誤解，因爲往往大家會認爲這是種動機或性格缺陷而不是一種疾病。但研究結果表明，多動症和抑鬱症以及強迫症一樣都屬於神經性精神疾病。

For the study, a team of Dutch neuroscientists analyzed MRI scans of the brains of more than 3,200 people between the ages of four and 63 years old (with a median age of 14 years old), measuring total brain volume as well as the volume of seven brain regions thought to be linked to ADHD. Roughly half of the participants had a diagnosis of ADHD.
在這項研究中，一批荷蘭科學家分析了年齡在4到63歲之間（平均年齡14歲）的3200多人的大腦核磁共振掃描結果，測量了大腦總體積以及大腦七塊與多動症的產生相關的區域體積。大約一半的參與者被診斷出患有多動症。

The brain scans revealed that five brain regions were smaller in people with ADHD. These include the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure involved in processing emotions like fear and pleasure; the hippocampus, which plays a role in learning, memory and emotion; and three brain areas within the striatum ― the caudate nucleus, the putamen and the nucleus accumbens. The structures within the striatum are involved in the brain’s reward system and in its processing of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control motivation and pleasure.
腦部掃描結果顯示，患有多動症的人的五個大腦區域較小。其中包括杏仁核，一種處理類似恐懼和愉悅的情感的杏仁狀結構；海馬在學習、記憶和情感中發揮作用；另外在紋狀體中還有三個大腦區域---紋狀體尾狀核、殼核和伏隔核。在紋狀體中的這些結構是大腦的獎勵系統中的一部分，在它處理多巴胺的過程中，有一種神經遞質能控制動機和情緒。

These differences were more dramatic in children than in adults, leading the study’s authors to conclude that ADHD involves delayed brain development. It appears that as the brains of people with ADHD develop and mature, these brain regions “catch up” to the brain regions of people without ADHD.
這些差異在兒童身上比成人顯現得更具戲劇性，根據這項研究的作者得出的結論表明：患有多動症的人大腦發育較爲遲緩。但當有多動症的人的大腦發育並逐漸成熟時，這些大腦區域的發展會“趕超”沒有多動症的人。

At the time of the study, 455 of the participants with ADHD were taking psychostimulant medication like Adderall, and more than 600 others had taken psychostimulants in the past but were not currently on medication. Brain volume differences did not correlate with stimulant use, suggesting that such discrepancies were not a result of medication.
在研究期間，455名多動症患者服用了興奮劑藥物如Adderall，超過600人在以前服用過興奮劑但現在未服藥。腦容量的差異與使用興奮劑並無關係，這表明這種差異並不是由於藥物引起的。

“We only studied a small part of the brain,” Hoogman said. “There is still a long way to go.”
“我們只研究了大腦的一小部分，”Hoogman說。“要真正瞭解大腦、研究多動症，還有很長的路要走。”