Improve Focus With Behavioral Tools & Medication for ADHD | Dr. John Kruse

Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. John Cruz. Dr. John Cruz is an MD PhD and practicing psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of ADHD in both kids and in adults. As you'll see during today's episode, Dr. Cruz is among the world's top experts in understanding the various treatments for ADHD and tools for helping to overcome non clinical issues with focus and attention. We of course discussed the drug treatments for ADHD, so those include Adderall, Ritalin, Vivants, Modafinol, Welbutrin, basically all the drugs that are used to treat ADHD.

And we cover their relative advantages and disadvantages. We also talk about the use of caffeine for focus and how caffeine can interact with those various drugs. Doctor Cruz also educates us on how specific behaviors like our sleep timing, so not just the amount of sleep we get, but when we sleep, as well as our meals, our exercise, how all that can shape our levels of attention and focus. And that of course is relevant not just to people struggling with attention and focus or who have ADHD, but to everybody. Dr. Cruz isn't just a psychiatrist, he also has a background in circadian biology research, and he offers the intriguing idea that ADHD and other deficits in focus may in many cases be the consequence of a misregulated circadian rhythm. He tells us how to test that idea and potentially how to fix it.

By the end of today's episode you'll understand what stimulants do. the possible origins of ADHD in both kids and adults. And both the behavioral and drug treatments and non-prescription approaches to overcoming brain fog and focused challenges. So by the end of today's episode, you'll be armed with a ton of new knowledge and you'll have a lot of practical tools you can apply. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public.

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