ADHD is a problem for millions of people. Perhaps this was an advantage for our ancestors

Hyperactivity could help us search for food in times of scarcity

Evolution is capricious. This is not a linear phenomenon where living beings accumulate progressive improvements, but is caused by random changes that sometimes go well, sometimes go badly. What is an evolutionary advantage today may become a burden to the species tomorrow.

This is what some researchers believe has happened with what is known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD and evolution. A new experimental study has raised the possibility that the disorder is a loophole in human evolution. According to this hypothesis, some symptoms associated with ADHD would have been beneficial in the hunter-gatherer societies in which our prehistoric ancestors were organized.

Symptoms of this disorder include impulsivity, restlessness, or difficulty concentrating. According to the team responsible for this new study, these types of symptoms would help them when optimizing their garbage collection strategy.

This could explain, on the one hand, the current prevalence of the disease, and on the other, its connection with genetics, since the disease is usually inherited.

Pickup game. The new study is based on an experiment in which almost half a thousand participants took part. The coordination group developed a virtual game in which participants had to collect food from bushes, the more the better.

The game gave participants the opportunity to constantly harvest from the same bush, which gradually produced fewer fruits, or change it to a new one. The new one could have more or less fruit, and the change could cause the player to lose between one and five seconds.

Before the game began, participants were asked to take a test to determine which participants exhibited common ADHD symptoms.

Optimal strategies. The team observed that participants with these symptoms tended to spend less time in the virtual bushes and were more efficient at picking fruits than others. Details of the experiment were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

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Evolutionary logic. This is not the only example in favor of the hypothesis that ADHD responds to an evolutionary strategy. Other studies, for example, have looked in genetics at the evolutionary relationship between hyperactivity and impulsivity and our survival as a species.

If impulsive tendencies were something truly negative, one of the authors explained to the newspaper The keeperevolution would have eliminated this trait and others like it. For the team, this is further evidence in favor of the hypothesis that our ancestors enjoyed these qualities for millions of years.

Economic question. The world has changed, yes. Over the past 10,000 years, humanity has moved from a state of scarcity to a state of abundance. From an evolutionary point of view, this is insignificant, so it is possible that we have not yet destroyed any of these genetic relics.

Today, lack of attention, hyperactivity, and other traits we associate with ADHD continue to be a problem for many people. In a world full of incentives, our constant searching can be more judgmental than helpful.

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Image | Pixabay / Robert Stewart Berrett