Understanding Neurodivergence

Science ⏱ 5 min

A Brainstem "Attention Filter" and ADHD: What the Mouse Study Really Shows

A viral post says researchers found a brainstem attention filter that may explain ADHD. The study is real and published in Nature Communications. But it was done in mice, and it contains no one with ADHD.

Sep 25, 2026 Read more →

ADHD and the Immune System: What "Some Research Has Found" Actually Found

A post says research links ADHD to immune and inflammatory conditions. It does: asthma and autoimmune disease are both more common with ADHD. The effects are small, and a 2026 study using genetic methods says the link is probably not causal. Here are the real numbers.

Sep 23, 2026 Read more →

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Candida in 46% of Autistic Children: The Number Is Real. The Story Around It Is Not

A viral post cites a real meta-analysis finding Candida albicans in 46.1% of children with autism. The figure checks out. What the post leaves out, one study doing all the work, a newer study that found no difference, and the diets this claim is used to sell, changes what it means.

Sep 23, 2026 Read more →

Can ADHD Brains "Pay Attention"? A Brain-Scan Study Asked a Sharper Question

A post cites a real, correctly referenced 2007 brain-imaging study to argue ADHD is not simply "not paying attention." The study checks out, and it is unusually well cited for a social post. One specific number could not be independently confirmed.

Sep 22, 2026 Read more →

"Not Doing What You Know": A Leading ADHD Researcher's Reframing, Fact-Checked

A post claims one expert "revolutionised the way we think about ADHD." The researcher and the ideas are real and influential. The word "revolutionised" is doing more work than the facts support. Here is what actually holds up.

Sep 22, 2026 Read more →

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Blocking One Gene Restored Brain Signalling Linked to Autism, in Mice. Here Is What That Actually Means

A 2026 study in Nature Communications silenced a single gene, SLC6A20, and restored a broken signalling system in the brains of adult mice carrying autism-linked mutations. Some behaviours improved. Others did not. Here is the real study behind the viral clip, and how far it is from a human treatment.

Sep 22, 2026 Read more →

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When Do Autism and Schizophrenia Begin? A Study of 1,000 Brains Points to the Months Before Birth

A University of Exeter team mapped the chemical switches on DNA in nearly 1,000 human brains, from six weeks after conception to 108 years. Most of the change happens before birth, and the genes linked to autism and schizophrenia are right in the middle of it. What that means, and what it does not.

Sep 20, 2026 Read more →

Vitamin D and ADHD: Deficiency Is Twice as Common, but What Do the Trials Really Show?

Meta-analyses find that people with ADHD have lower vitamin D and are about twice as likely to be deficient. Supplement trials show small gains in attention when added to medication, and a vitamin D plus magnesium trial went viral. Here is the honest picture, including the caveat almost nobody mentions.

Sep 20, 2026 Read more →

Two Kinds of Smart: Why Autism and ADHD Have Opposite Genetic Links With Knowledge and Reasoning

A 2026 study in Nature Communications split intelligence into reasoning, knowledge and speed, then compared their genetics with autism, ADHD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The links go in different directions. A single IQ number hides all of it.

Sep 19, 2026 Read more →

Why Are So Many People Diagnosed With ADHD and Autism? A Study of 37,000 People Points to a Moving Threshold, Not an Epidemic

Diagnoses of ADHD and autism have more than quadrupled since the 1990s. A 2026 study in JAMA Psychiatry looked at the DNA of 37,000 diagnosed people, year by year. The genetic load of the average diagnosed person has fallen. Here is what that means, and what it does not.

Sep 19, 2026 Read more →

ADHD Genes Beyond Dopamine: The Six Brain Pathways a 2022 Review Maps, and Why They All Lead Back to Dopamine

A viral post says the genes linked to ADHD fall into six neurotransmitter pathways. The review behind it is real. Here is what each pathway does, which genes are involved, why heritability is about 76%, and what a consumer DNA file can and cannot tell you.

Sep 17, 2026 Read more →

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