ADHD: The evolutionary advantage

PEOPLE WITH ADHD HELPED HUNTER-GATHERER GROUPS SURVIVE LONG BEFORE

THE DAWN OF AGRICULTURE, NEW RESEARCH SHOWS, H IGHLIGHTING THE VALUE

OF TRAITS THAT DRIVE EXPLORATION AND RISK-TAKING TODAY. A360 MEDIA

Thousands of years before the dawn of agriculture, a small clan of hunter-gatherers scavenges for food. While most of them diligently pick nuts and berries from the ever-sparser growth near

their camp, one antsy individual stands out, distracted, his attention flitting all around his surroundings. He doesn’t dig for scraps amid the dwindling resource supply because he’s impatient and, frankly, bored. Finally, he scans the horizon, spots what could be a field in the distance, and makes a beeline for it, anxious to find out what it holds, and whether it might be more fruitful than the group’s present patch of land.

Today, this fellow with itchy feet might be diagnosed with ADHD and given a stimulant to medicate him and help him function at school or on the job. But back in the Paleolithic, his unique set of traits was crucial to his group’s survival: His sheer inquisitiveness,heightened awareness, sensitivity to environmental cues and impatience with diminishing returns alerted him to resources others had overlooked.

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