Link: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-opposite-reward-responses-in-adhd-and-autism/

Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and those with autism spectrum disorder both experience atypical responses to rewards, but their brain activity patterns differ in opposite ways. A new analysis reveals that while the two conditions involve the same deeper brain structures, they feature distinct patterns of heightened or reduced activity that could help explain their differing symptoms. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Edit weird ableist use of "healthy" don't know what that is about...

Having both does NOT cancel out unfortunately

Is this why I’m my own worst enemy

In this use of the term "scans of healthy brains" means that the people who were scanned had no known diseases or disorders. That means no cancers, no exhibition of seizure, no migraine, nothing that would interfere with those scans as a control to compare the scans of people known to have ADHD and/or autism.

In other words, it isn't the same language as we might use colloquially. It's specific to science writing.

Likely, the original data said something like normative, or unremarkable, or some other more tightly defined term that just isn't as accessible to the broader populace.

Is it an ableist term? Ehhh, it could be argued either way, but I tend to look at jargon as being almost completely different words from standard versions of a language. It's more like African-American vernacular English, or Appalachian English than formal English; some things don't translate well. Hell, look at medical terminology as a whole; it's a hodgepodge of latin, Greek, and little fragments of other languages mixed into the dominant language of wherever it's being used.

So I wouldn't say the article's usage of it is ableist either in intent or in function. It's like saying something in Spanish that's similar to a slur in the way it sounds, but utterly lacks the context and meaning.

Having them and cptsd is super fun too

People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, often show a high sensitivity to immediate rewards. This sensitivity is associated with impulsive behavior. When an individual with ADHD receives a reward, their brain may over-register the immediate gratification, making it difficult to wait for delayed outcomes.

In contrast, individuals with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, frequently exhibit a reduced drive for specific rewards. This includes a lower sensitivity to social rewards, which can affect social engagement and interaction. They may not experience the same internal reinforcement from a smile or verbal praise that a neurotypical person does.

Neat.

Good point

Hey, at least you're not alone here! 🙌🏼😅

I don't know but you sound like me so are we enemies or should I be just offended for you calling yourself your enemy... or? I am confused.

edit What was I doing before this comment again?

may over-register the immediate gratification, making it difficult to wait for delayed outcomes.

may not experience the same internal reinforcement from a smile or verbal praise that a neurotypical person does.

And, let's not forget what ol' cPTSD brings to the party: blunted/hyporesponsive striatum, disrupted hippocampus-to-motivation pathways, difficulty internalizing accomplishments, the dopamine chasing, constrained reward systems, etc., etc. 🥺 Yay, a hat-trick!

A biological scan to determine if a person has adhd or autism would be fantastic. Currently the diagnoses are based on subjective questionings that are very open to interpretation and often vary widely by the individual who's administering the testing. I've heard horror stories of people having to fight to get a diagnosis even though it's obvious that they have the condition.

It also makes it more difficult to diagnose as you get older as many of the tests are affected by experiences, e.g. PTSD victims who are highly sensitive to immediate things like ADHD, or people with ASD who have learnt to respond to praise in a way that neurotypical people do.

I'd be worried about such a scan being (ab)used to do eugenics. The disabled/undesirables were one of the Nazis' targets

Any good article to read on cPTSD and the points you mentioned. Currently dealing with a combination of these.

🖖

I mean any diagnosis data can be abused for eugenics, and any “scan” can be made up to say whatever they want.

The real solution is to rid ourselves of the fascists. Don’t blame the tool unless it’s only function is evil.

Especially the way shit is right now

That sounds like lower levels of hell

no that just makes you a song by the band Lit

badum-tsh

And, yet, my whole life (diag >30) I was trained to push it down and/or think it was standard and I wasn't doing enough. 🥲

Frankly, I wish I did, and even moreso recently as my diag's evolved to include a heavier helping of the new Au. 😅 If there's a specific aspect within any of this that you're particularly keen on exploring, I could give a look in the database here, see it something pops out? 🙇🏼‍♂️

Regardless, I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with this. I know how that can go, and I know a couple ways now that it can go well, too. IANAP, so take all this with a pinch, ofc, and finding a focused pro to help guide you is pretty clutch, IMHO. Still, you're welcome to message me whenever, if that helps, fellow spicy brain in a magic skeleton. 🖖🏼

Just gotta try a little harder, you're not working up to your potential!

🤢

Heh, yeah... Only, now I have a near-instinctual response to that phrase that I have to will my hands to stay at rest when I hear it. 😉

if the Nazi wins we're fucked anyway. Access to medications help me keep my job.

to me their usage of the term is less ableist than the default background ableism that society suffers from, because it acknowledges that autism and adhd aren't unhealthy.

checks out: i LOVE reliable investments and am quite risk averse, if i have the choice of large immediate reward or a small but continuous reward in the future then the immediate reward is actively uncomfortable to me.

counterpoint: why do we need an "objective" way to diagnose people? Wouldn't it be better to largely ditch mental diagnoses (at least for autism and adhd) in favour of directly providing treatment for the symptoms?

Why should it matter what your brain looks like if you have symptoms that cause issues?

I hear you, and i mostly agree, but that's a level of deep and total systemic change which is orders of magnitude farther away than developing a scan