Thinking blocks and decision-making problems in ADHD - neurophysiological correlates

Thinking blocks occur equally in ADHD-HI and ADHD-I. Contrary to a view previously expressed here, they are not subtype-specific. Decision-making problems, on the other hand, appear to occur significantly more frequently in ADHD-I than in ADHD.

This suggests that the two manifestations have different neurophysiological correlates.

ADHD is associated with impaired learning behavior in response to changing rewards, which leads to impaired decision-making behavior. A neurophysiological correlate was found to be a reduced representation of choice probability in the left posterior parietal cortex in ADHD. The impairment of flexible behavior in ADHD was due to excessive choice switching (“hyperflexibility”), which can be detrimental (when environmental conditions remain constant) or beneficial (when environmental conditions change), depending on the learning environment ¹²
An improved response to changing environmental conditions can be beneficial in stressful situations. We see a correlation here with functional stress symptoms.

The extremely high levels of noradrenaline during severe stress impair the functionality of the PFC. While slightly elevated noradrenaline levels increase the ability to think, very high noradrenaline levels reduce this ability and behavioral control is transferred from the PFC to the posterior cortex.³⁴⁵⁶

The details can be found in the article ⇒ Neurotransmitters during stress In the section ⇒ Severe stress = strong increase in NE/DA and cortisol = reduced cognitive performance.