The ADHD Advantage (for nomadic tribesman)
Having ADHD might be beneficial to a group of nomads in Kenya, yesterday’s Science Daily reports. Nomadic tribesmen who have an ADHD-variant of the gene DRD4 fare better have better health than those without it, but when they settle, they become malnourished. DRD4 codes for a receptor for dopamine; according to Dan Eisenberg, an anthropology graduate student from Northwestern University, “‘this gene is likely to be involved in impulsivity, reward anticipation and addiction’.” Eisenberg also notes:
“The DRD4/7R allele has been linked to greater food and drug cravings, novelty-seeking, and ADHD symptoms. It is possible that in the nomadic setting, a boy with this allele might be able to more effectively defend livestock against raiders or locate food and water sources, but that the same tendencies might not be as beneficial in settled pursuits such as focusing in school, farming or selling goods”.
These findings suggest that behavior differences previously associated with the DRD4 gene, such as ADHD, are more or less effective depending on the environment.
Makes plenty of sense to me: My “very ADHD” husband, Jim, is never so much at home as when he’s on the move, walking around the city, biking around town with Charlie, driving anywhere in New Jersey. But seat him at a desk and he’s up before you know it. And sometimes it seems Charlie would be reasonably happy to live mostly in the car and be ever on the road.
A disability can have—-does have—-its strengths.
13 opinions for The ADHD Advantage (for nomadic tribesman)
Emily
Jun 10, 2008 at 11:47 pm
See? Dopamine. The root of all…atypicality.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 10, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Careful or someone will develop a way to “cure” that…….
Susan E
Jun 11, 2008 at 12:31 am
Makes sense to me, here in the SF Bay Area, where social skills just erode the time you could otherwise be spending writing software code…
Cliff
Jun 11, 2008 at 12:51 am
Makes sense, indeed.
Cliff
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 11, 2008 at 1:12 am
And nothing like walking up those hills in San Francisco or above Berkeley……
Regan
Jun 11, 2008 at 5:16 am
“are more or less effective depending on the environment”
——————–
It not only makes sense, it seems downright obvious. Interpretation of, and adaptability of, behavior is inextricably linked to the environment/setting. Not all allele variants are “negative”.
laurentius-rex
Jun 11, 2008 at 6:06 am
In a global sense it makes more sense to have a variety of genes not particularly dominant traits, therefore different specialisations can help each other out in symbiosis.
I think we ought to frame our demands in terms of symbiosis where there are no useless eaters.
I have traits that can be accommodated well within a highly intellectual society, they wouldn’t do me much good in the Australian bush, and likewise I don’t think there is a lot of demand for bush tucker in Henley Green, where I need different skills to forage for food.
Impulsivity can be useful in some situations, certainly as an antidote to procrastination or depression where any action, even the wrong one is better than none at all.
On the other hand a monopole dedication and obsessive thoroughness can be a useful trait as well, in an environment where it’s utility is maximised.
It helps if you are on a desert Island to have any number of different traits there, and even a story teller can have a psychological utility.
Emily
Jun 11, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Sigh. Regan, you must have grown up in Estonia. No, really…I wish more people had such a good grasp of what “mutation” means, what the interaction of genes with environment means, of the outcome of this interaction in the form of natural selection, how one gene form can be terrible in one environment but quite useful in another. I’ll stop now before I launch into an epic rant. I swim against this tide on a daily basis, and sometimes, it gets tiresome.
Emily
Jun 11, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I’ll add that from my own experience, those of us with these dopamine issues–including ADHD–suffer from a little thing the Germans call “Wanderlust.” We are change seekers, restless, impulsive…and the world seems to move far more slowly than we do.
Regan
Jun 11, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Emily,
I’m more than a little bit of a gull.
Was my thought right or wrong? (And am really curious about “Estonia”.)
Emily
Jun 11, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Oh, Regan, right, of course.
Estonia ranks well ahead of the United States (according to at least one assessment of older teens, if memory serves) in the ability of its citizens to understand science. Actually, Estonia and about 28 other countries, in fact, which also includes Lichtenstein and Canada. I can tell you from experience that it’s an uphill battle to teach science in the United States. My first battle, and one that I fight right away at the beginning of every semester, is overcoming various preconceptions about science and the conduct of science, and clarifying the difference between science and pseudoscience. We all get along pretty well after that.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 12, 2008 at 2:03 am
I remembered about Estonia from the first time you cited it, Emily……. “Wanderlust” is pretty much what both husband and son have here. Me, I could sit in a closet (with computer, with coffee) and get plenty done.
Though I’ve certainly learned the joys of traveling, foraging, and taking what the road gives you.
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