Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a frequently diagnosed disorder in child- and adulthood with a high impact affecting multiple facets of social life. Therefore, patients suffering from ADHD are at high risk to be confronted with stigma, prejudices, and discrimination. A review of the empirical research in the field of ADHD with regard to stigma was performed. The findings of investigations in this field were clustered in different categories, including stigma in children with ADHD, stigma in adults with ADHD, stigma in relatives or in people close to a patient with ADHD, and the influence of stigma on authorities’ attitudes toward patients with ADHD. Variables identified to contribute to stigma in ADHD are public’s uncertainty concerning the reliability/validity of an ADHD diagnosis and the related diagnostic assessment, public’s perceived dangerousness of individuals with ADHD, socio-demographical factors as age, gender, and ethnicity of the respondent or the target individual with ADHD, stigmatization of ADHD treatment, for example public’s skepticism toward ADHD medication and disclosure of diagnostic status as well as medication status of the individual with ADHD. The contribution of stigma associated with ADHD can be conceptualized as an underestimated risk factor, affecting treatment adherence, treatment efficacy, symptom aggravation, life satisfaction, and mentally well-being of individuals affected by ADHD. Public as well as health professionals’ concepts about ADHD are highly diverse, setting individuals with an ADHD diagnosis at greater risk to get stigmatized.

As attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed developmental disorders in childhood, effective yet safe treatment options are highly important. Recent research introduced physical exercise as a potential treatment option, particularly for children with ADHD. The aim of this review was to systematically analyze potential acute and chronic effects of cardio and non-cardio exercise on a broad range of functions in children with ADHD and to explore this in adults as well. Literature on physical exercise in patients with ADHD was systematically reviewed based on categorizations for exercise type (cardio versus non-cardio), effect type (acute versus chronic), and outcome measure (cognitive, behavioral/socio-emotional, and physical/(neuro)physiological). Furthermore, the methodological quality of the reviewed papers was addressed. Cardio exercise seems acutely beneficial regarding various executive functions (e.g., impulsivity), response time and several physical measures. Beneficial chronic effects of cardio exercise were found on various functions as well, including executive functions, attention and behavior. The acute and chronic effects of non-cardio exercise remain more questionable but seem predominantly positive too. Research provides evidence that physical exercise represents a promising alternative or additional treatment option for patients with ADHD. Acute and chronic beneficial effects of especially cardio exercise were reported with regard to several cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional functions. Although physical exercise may therefore represent an effective treatment option that could be combined with other treatment approaches of ADHD, more well-controlled studies on this topic, in both children and adults, are needed.

A growing number of studies suggest that language problems in Parkinson's disease (PD) are a result of executive dysfunction. To test this hypothesis we compared Dutch verb production in sentence context in a group of 28 PD patients with a control group consisting of 28 healthy participants matched for age, gender and education. All subjects were assessed on both verb production in sentence context as well as on cognitive functions relevant for sentence processing. PD patients scored lower than healthy controls on the verb production ability-scale and showed a response pattern in which performance was worse (1) in base than in derived position; (2) in present than in past tense; (3) for intransitive than in transitive verbs. For the PD group the score on the verb production ability-scale correlated significantly with set-switching and working memory. These results provide support for previous research suggesting that executive dysfunctions underlie the performance of the PD patients on verb production. It is furthermore suggested that because of failing automaticity, PD patients rely more on the cortically represented executive functions. Unfortunately, due to the disturbed intimate relation between the basal ganglia and the frontal cortex, these executive functions are also dysfunctional.

Subjective and objective assessment tools were found to be sensitive in revealing cognitive dysfunctions of adults with ADHD. Because of the weak association between subjective and objective measurements, it was concluded that subjective and objective measurements are both important for clinical practice but may provide distinct types of information and capture different aspects of functioning.