26/10/2025
🧠People with ADHD really do have different brains – and now scientists can finally prove it.
Thanks to a better way of reading brain scans, researchers have found clear evidence that children with ADHD have smaller brain volumes in areas linked to focus, emotion, decision-making, and memory.
These structural differences were hard to see before because each hospital uses different scanning machines, which can distort results. But a team in Japan used a clever technique to remove that technical "noise", scanning the same people on multiple machines to figure out how much of the difference was due to the equipment. Once that scanner bias was removed, the patterns became clear: ADHD brains really are built differently.
This discovery could lead to earlier, more accurate diagnoses and better, more personalized treatments. Another study showed that people with ADHD are much more prone to boredom, not because they’re lazy, but because of how their brains handle attention and memory. Poor working memory and trouble focusing can make everyday situations feel dull or frustrating. This ties into the Cognitive Theory of Boredom, which says that boredom isn’t just a mood, it’s what happens when your brain can’t stay engaged. And for people with ADHD, that’s often tied to the way their brains are wired. Psychologist John Eastwood, who helped develop this theory, says boredom is actually a message – a sign you may need more purpose or control in your day-to-day life. For people with ADHD, learning to manage boredom with active strategies like mindfulness or gamifying tasks may be more helpful than just trying to avoid it.
Source:
Shou Q., Mizuno Y., et al. “Brain structure characteristics in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder elucidated using travelling-subject harmonization.” Molecular Psychiatry. August 2025.
Also: Orban S.A., Blessing J.S., Sandone M.K., Conness B., Santer J. “Why Are Individuals With ADHD More Prone to Boredom? Examining Attention Control and Working Memory as Mediators of Boredom in Young Adults With ADHD Traits.” Journal of Attention Disorders. 2025