ADHD and brain scans

Part 4

It’s important to remember that brain scans are NOT like X-rays.

An X-ray will produce a picture that, in most cases, is clear enough for you to SEE FOR YOURSELF what it means.

A brain scan produces an image of activity, or of temporary or permanent changes in the brain that, to the average person, would probably be completely indecipherable. You would have to rely on what your doctor tells you it means.

Since it appears that scientists currently know more about life on Mars than they do about the workings of the human brain, what your doctor tells you may well involve a rather large amount of interpretation, and they may not necessarily advise you of that.

Furthermore, this interpretation itself can be subservient to what your doctor is LOOKING FOR. This can often happen at a totally unconscious level.

With regard to research that claims to have identified - through the use of brain scans or otherwise - distinct differences between persons diagnosed with ‘ADHD’ and those not (such as those referred to in the International Consensus Statement), not only would I personally require a detailed explanation of the scientific methodology employed in the research, I would also want to examine a complete profile of each individual participant in each study - by which I mean, reliable and accurate data on such factors as their general state of health, medical history and medication if any, diet, belief system including traditional beliefs (that is, perceptions of themselves and the world passed on to them from preceding generations), their family dynamics, habitual emotional states, every day environments, and a whole lot more - before I would be willing to consider anything as ‘proven’.

Without this information, it would be IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO KNOW if the research results are genuinely meaningful, a self-fulfilling hypothesis or total flim-flam.

For me, the bottom line in the matter of brain scans is this:…

Next, ADHD and Brain Scans Part 5

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