ADHD decreases motivation, but common medication appears to help

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-09-05 03:00

Australia; VIC

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People with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are likely to have lower motivation than those without the condition but a common medication used to treat it appears to help, according to international research. The researchers recruited 20 people with ADHD who usually take an amphetamine-based medication such as dexamphetamine or lisdexamphetamine, and 24 people without ADHD. The participants were trained on two tasks - one that was mentally demanding and one that was physically demanding - and then were asked to choose how much effort they were willing to put into the task to gain a reward. The ADHD group were tested both without taking their medication and with their medication, and the researchers say while the ADHD group had lower overall motivation than the non-ADHD group without medication, taking the medication appeared to reduce or close the gap in most participants.

News release

From: Society for Neuroscience

Attention (and Motivation?) Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Evidence for diminished motivation as a symptom of ADHD is growing, but fortunately the primary pharmaceutical treatment strategy for ADHD may restore motivation.

It has been suggested that those with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have diminished motivation to exert effort. Yet the extent to which those suffering from ADHD endure this impairment is not well known. Furthermore, whether the primary treatment for ADHD (amphetamine-based pharmaceuticals) reverses lack of motivation is unknown. Chong et al. measured the amount of cognitive and physical effort 20 individuals with ADHD on and off medication were willing to exert in pursuit of a reward and compared it to that of 24 people in a control group.

They found that those with ADHD had diminished motivation as compared to controls, but amphetamine-based treatment increased the amount of cognitive and physical effort those with ADHD were willing to exert. Treatment was in fact so effective that most individuals were motivated to the same extent as the control group. These findings confirm that those suffering from ADHD have reduced motivation and suggest that the primary approved treatment for ADHD may effectively target this symptom.

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Journal/
conference: JNeurosci

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University

Funder: This project was supported by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia to TC and MB (2010899). TC is supported by a Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (FT220100294). MB is supported by a Senior Research Fellowship (Level B) from the NHMRC (1154378).

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