Keynote speech

Title: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - the drugs do work but we don't know why, by Prof. Paul Overton

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder affecting in the region of 5% of children and adolescents worldwide, with many retaining symptoms into adulthood. At present, the most common treatment for ADHD is with drugs that in other contexts would be considered to be drugs of abuse. My talk will examine the social, educational and occupational burden of ADHD and consider why drugs of abuse are still the frontline treatment. In addition I will examine a new theory which accounts for one of the key symptoms of ADHD, and which promises to be a way forward therapeutically. I will consider what kind of evidence such a theory might require, where we are with the gathering of that evidence and the therapeutic implications of our new understanding.