Does mindfulness meditation improve attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) manifests by high levels of inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. ADHD starts in childhood and results in impairments that continue into adulthood. While hyperactivity declines over time, inattention and executive function difficulties persist, leading to functional deficits. Adolescents and adults with ADHD have pervasive impairment in interpersonal and family relationships. They may develop addiction, delinquent behavior and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, persistent residual symptoms are common, highlighting the need for novel treatment strategies. Mindfulness training, derived from Eastern meditation practices, may improve self-regulation of attention. It may also be a useful strategy to augment standard ADHD treatments and may be used as a potential tool to reduce impairments in patients with residual symptoms of ADHD. Clinically, this would manifest by an increased ability to suppress task-unrelated thoughts and distractions resulting in improved attention, completion of tasks and potential improvement in occupational and social function.

Baidu index and predictability of Chinese stock returns

A number of studies have investigated the predictability of Chinese stock returns with economic variables.Given the newly emerged dataset from the Internet,this paper investigates whether the Baidu Index can be employed to predict Chinese stock returns.The empirical results show that 1)the Search Frequency of Baidu Index(SFBI)can predict next day’s price changes;2)the stock prices go up when individual investors pay less attention to the stocks and go down when individual investors pay more attention to the stocks;3)the trading strategy constructed by shorting on the most SFBI and longing on the least SFBI outperforms the corresponding market index returns without consideration of the transaction costs.These results complement the existing literature on the predictability of Chinese stock returns and have potential implications for asset pricing and risk management.

Inattentiveness in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder （ADHD） is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a long-term impact on functioning, productivity and quality of life of patients. This impact is largely due to the symptoms of inattentiveness. However, despite its impairing role in the lives of ADHD patients, inattentiveness has been studied relatively less frequently than have symptoms of impulsivity/hyperactivity and problems with executive function. This review therefore seeks to integrate the neuropsychological theories and current findings in the research fields of neuropsychology, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging, in an attempt to gain a more complete understanding of the role that inattentiveness plays in ADHD, as well as to suggest directions for future studies. The need for a more comprehensive understanding of inattentiveness and ADHD, which integrates findings from each of the three disciplines mentioned above, is emphasized.