Brain Games and Exercise: A Drug-Free Treatment for ADHD?

Not much is known about what causes the telltale symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—impulsivity, inattention, and inability to sit still. But research suggests that is has to do with a deficiency of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that helps regulate behavior, mood, and movement.

To treat ADHD, doctors normally prescribe stimulant medication such as Ritalin, which has been shown to increase the availability of dopamine in the brain. But what if there were an all-natural way to increase concentration and attention span?

Amnon Gimpel, MD, author of Brain Exercises to Cure ADHD, suggests that everyday activities can be turned into mental exercises to increase dopamine levels and help treat ADHD.

Exercises for your brain
The title of Dr. Gimpel’s book is certainly controversial: Most medical experts agree that there is no “cure” for ADHD. Medication can be used to control symptoms, and learned techniques can improve attention and organization in patients with ADHD. But in most cases the condition either goes away on its own after childhood or remains with a person throughout his or her adult life.

But Dr. Gimpel and others have also begun looking at something they call "brain exercise therapy" (BET): mental and physical workouts that they claim build brain mass and neural pathways. By engaging in activities that require new skills and problem solving, patients can stimulate neuron growth, according to Dr. Gimpel. The more neurons that are stimulated, the more connections are created in areas of the brain that are deficient in neurotransmitters.

“Many ADHD adults are successful, but their lives are very disorganized. There’s no clear direction or consistency,” says Dr. Gimpel, a board-certified psychiatrist and neurologist and head of the Brain Power Clinic in Jerusalem. Any activity that requires new ways of thinking, done on a regular basis, can help this disorganization, he adds. BET games such as juggling and chess teach strategy, memory, and planning skills.