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Empirical tests of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts of ADHD: a systematic review

Empirical tests of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts of ADHD: a systematic review
Empirical tests of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts of ADHD: a systematic review
ADHD is a prevalent and highly heritable mental disorder associated with significant impairment, morbidity and increased rates of mortality. This combination of high prevalence and high morbidity/mortality seen in ADHD and other mental disorders presents a challenge to natural selection-based models of human evolution. Several hypotheses have been proposed in an attempt to resolve this apparent paradox. The aim of this study was to review the evidence for these hypotheses.

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on empirical investigations of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts for ADHD in adherence with the PRISMA guideline. The PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were screened for relevant publications, by combining search terms covering evolution/selection with search terms covering ADHD.

The search identified 790 records. Of these, 15 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and three were included in the review. Two of these reported on the evolution of the seven-repeat allele of the ADHD-associated dopamine receptor D4 gene, and one reported on the results of a simulation study of the effect of suggested ADHD-traits on group survival. The authors of the three studies interpreted their findings as favouring the notion that ADHD-traits may have been associated with increased fitness during human evolution. However, we argue that none of the three studies really tap into the core symptoms of ADHD, and that their conclusions therefore lack validity for the disorder.

This review indicates that the natural selection-based accounts of ADHD have not been subjected to empirical test and therefore remain hypothetical.
0924-2708
249-256
Thagaard, Marthe S.
932b3bc4-f330-420a-a1f8-c4eb6f932838
Faraone, Stephen V.
bd307516-e8db-4d38-b649-9d7d7caafe93
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
bc80bf95-6cf9-4c76-a09d-eaaf0b717635
Østergaard, Søren D.
14044cb0-cac2-4893-8ba8-0f3707989250
Thagaard, Marthe S.
932b3bc4-f330-420a-a1f8-c4eb6f932838
Faraone, Stephen V.
bd307516-e8db-4d38-b649-9d7d7caafe93
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
bc80bf95-6cf9-4c76-a09d-eaaf0b717635
Østergaard, Søren D.
14044cb0-cac2-4893-8ba8-0f3707989250

Thagaard, Marthe S., Faraone, Stephen V., Sonuga-Barke, Edmund and Østergaard, Søren D. (2016) Empirical tests of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts of ADHD: a systematic review. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 28 (5), 249-256. (doi:10.1017/neu.2016.14). (PMID:27530703)

Record type: Article

Abstract

ADHD is a prevalent and highly heritable mental disorder associated with significant impairment, morbidity and increased rates of mortality. This combination of high prevalence and high morbidity/mortality seen in ADHD and other mental disorders presents a challenge to natural selection-based models of human evolution. Several hypotheses have been proposed in an attempt to resolve this apparent paradox. The aim of this study was to review the evidence for these hypotheses.

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on empirical investigations of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts for ADHD in adherence with the PRISMA guideline. The PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were screened for relevant publications, by combining search terms covering evolution/selection with search terms covering ADHD.

The search identified 790 records. Of these, 15 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and three were included in the review. Two of these reported on the evolution of the seven-repeat allele of the ADHD-associated dopamine receptor D4 gene, and one reported on the results of a simulation study of the effect of suggested ADHD-traits on group survival. The authors of the three studies interpreted their findings as favouring the notion that ADHD-traits may have been associated with increased fitness during human evolution. However, we argue that none of the three studies really tap into the core symptoms of ADHD, and that their conclusions therefore lack validity for the disorder.

This review indicates that the natural selection-based accounts of ADHD have not been subjected to empirical test and therefore remain hypothetical.

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Accepted/In Press date: 1 March 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 April 2016
Published date: October 2016
Organisations: Clinical Neuroscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 402424
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/402424
ISSN: 0924-2708
PURE UUID: 1bc61b08-7495-4311-907c-35a548bdc73e

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Date deposited: 08 Nov 2016 16:33
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:17

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Contributors

Author: Marthe S. Thagaard
Author: Stephen V. Faraone
Author: Edmund Sonuga-Barke
Author: Søren D. Østergaard

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