Disclaimer: These definitions are for informational purposes only and are not comprehensive. They do not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare provider for personal health concerns.
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Table of Contents
- Core ADHD Terms
- Executive Function Basics
- Specific Executive Skills
- Emotion, Motivation, & Arousal
- Attention, Time, & Processing
- Daily Life, Learning, & Work
- Sensory Processing
- Diagnosis & Context
- ADHD Brain Science
- ADHD Brain Areas
- Informal / Community Language
- Learn More: Recommended Resources
Core ADHD Terms
ADHD (Attention‑Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)
A neurodevelopmental condition involving patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity that interfere with daily life and development.
ADHD Combined Type (most common)
The most frequent ADHD presentation, with significant symptoms of both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity (6+ symptoms each) that impair daily functioning.
ADHD Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type
Primarily shows hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms (6+ like fidgeting, interrupting, restlessness) with minimal inattention
ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type
Primarily shows inattention symptoms (6+ like poor focus, disorganization, forgetfulness) without marked hyperactivity/impulsivity
Executive Dysfunction
Difficulties with the mental “management” skills that control behavior, emotions, and thinking, such as planning, organizing, starting tasks, and self‑monitoring.
Inattention
Difficulty sustaining focus, following through on tasks, organizing activities, and resisting distraction, often showing up as “spacing out” or being forgetful in daily routines.
Hyperactivity
Excessive movement or restlessness relative to context, such as fidgeting, feeling “driven by a motor,” or needing to move even in situations that call for stillness.
Impulsivity
Acting or speaking quickly without considering consequences, including interrupting or making sudden decisions.
Hyperfocus
Intense, sustained focus on highly interesting activities, often losing track of time or responsibilities.
Neurodiversity
The view that brain differences like ADHD are natural variations in human neurology, not simply deficits, with related strengths and challenges
Executive Function Basics
Executive Function (EF)
A set of mental skills that act as the brain’s manager, helping you plan, focus, remember instructions, regulate emotions, and juggle multiple tasks.
Executive Function Disorder
A descriptive term (not a formal diagnosis) for significant, ongoing difficulties in executive skills such as planning, organizing, time management, and impulse control, which can appear in ADHD and other conditions.
“Cool” Executive Functions
More cognitive, non‑emotional skills like working memory, planning, and problem‑solving, often linked with attention and organization.
“Hot” Executive Functions
Emotion‑ and motivation‑related skills like reward sensitivity, delay of gratification, and inhibition when feelings are high, often linked with hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Specific Executive Skills
Chunking
A memory strategy that groups small bits of information into larger, meaningful “chunks” (like phone numbers as 3-3-4) to make working memory more efficient
Cognitive Flexibility (Flexible Thinking / Set‑Shifting)
The ability to shift perspective, adapt to changes, and try different approaches when plans or rules change.
Goal‑Directed Persistence
Staying with a goal over time, despite distractions, obstacles, or fluctuating motivation.
Inhibition (Response Inhibition)
The ability to pause before acting or speaking, resist impulses, and ignore distractions
Organization
Keeping track of information, belongings, and tasks in a structured way, including both physical spaces and mental systems.
Planning & Prioritization
The skill of setting goals, breaking them into steps, and deciding what matters most and what to do first.
Self‑Monitoring (Self-Awareness)
Noticing what you are doing, how it is going, and whether you need to adjust your behavior or strategy.
Task Initiation (Activation)
The ability to start tasks in a timely way, especially boring, complex, or overwhelming ones, rather than getting stuck in procrastination.
Time Management
Estimating how long things will take, noticing the passage of time, pacing work, and meeting deadlines.
Working Memory
The ability to hold and use information in mind over short periods, like remembering multi‑step directions or what you were about to do next.
Emotion, Motivation, & Arousal
Arousal Regulation
Managing alertness and energy levels; in ADHD this can show up as under‑arousal (boredom, drowsiness) or over‑arousal (restlessness).
Delay Aversion
A strong discomfort with waiting for rewards or outcomes, leading to preference for immediate, smaller rewards over larger, delayed ones.
Emotional Dysregulation
Frequent or intense emotional reactions, difficulty calming down, and trouble matching emotional responses to the situation.
Emotional Impulsivity
Acting immediately on feelings (e.g., snapping, sending reactive messages, quitting suddenly) without a pause to think.
Emotional Regulation
The ability to manage and modulate emotional responses so they do not derail behavior, relationships, or tasks.
Motivation Deficits (Low Motivation)
Difficulty initiating or persisting in tasks that are not immediately interesting or rewarding, even when the person cares about the outcome.
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD)
Intense emotional pain in response to perceived rejection or criticism.
Attention, Time, & Processing
Divided Attention/Task-Switching
Shifting focus between tasks or tracking multiple things at once, like listening while taking notes.
Processing Speed
How quickly a person can take in, understand, and respond to information; in ADHD this is often slower or more variable.
Selective Attention
Focusing on one thing while filtering out competing stimuli or distractions.
Sustained Attention
Staying focused on a task or activity over time, especially when it is not inherently stimulating.
Time Blindness
Difficulty sensing time passing, estimating durations, or “feeling” future consequences, leading to chronic lateness, underestimating tasks, or last‑minute rushing.
ensing time passing or estimating durations.
Daily Life, Learning, & Work
Body Doubling
Using another person’s presence (in‑person or virtual) to help start and stay on tasks through shared work time or co‑working sessions.
Compensatory Strategies
Deliberate methods used to work around executive function difficulties, such as using timers, checklists, external reminders, or body‑doubling.
Encoding (Memory)
How your brain takes in new information and turns it into something it can store for later
Consolidation (Memory)
How your brain locks in a new memory so it becomes stable and long‑lasting instead of fading away.
Masking
Hiding ADHD traits and copying neurotypical behaviors
Output Efficiency
Being able to produce work (writing, reports, homework) at a rate that matches one’s knowledge and abilities.
Self‑Regulation
Coordinating thoughts, emotions, and actions to meet long‑term goals, especially when short‑term impulses compete.
Sensory
Relates to processing input from the five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste); many with ADHD are hypersensitive or seek extra sensory input
Task Analysis
Breaking a complex task into smaller, concrete steps so it is easier to start and complete. tasks into smaller steps.
Sensory Processing
Sensory Processing
How the brain receives, organizes, and responds to sensory input from body and environment; often dysregulated in ADHD.
Sensory Avoiding
Actively dodging sensory input (covering ears, avoiding tags, hating crowded places, food texture issues)
Sensory Seeking
Actively craving more sensory input (crashing into things, loud chewing, tight clothes, constant movement) to feel regulated
Sensory Overload
When too much sensory input floods the system, causing shutdown, meltdowns, irritability, or escape behaviors
Stimming (Self‑Stimulatory Behavior)
Repetitive movements or sounds (e.g., tapping, rocking, fidgeting, humming) used to regulate sensory input, emotions, or focus; common in ADHD and autism
Interoception
“Internal body sense.” Detecting hunger, thirst, bathroom needs, heartbeat, emotions. Weak interoception = missing hunger cues, ignoring fatigue, emotional confusion.
Proprioception
“Body position sense.” Knowing where your arms/legs are without looking. Poor proprioception = clumsiness, bumping into things, heavy-footed walking
Vestibular
Balance/movement sense (inner ear)—controls spatial orientation and coordination. Issues cause motion sickness, spinning cravings, and poor balance.
Diagnosis & Context
Across Settings
The requirement that ADHD‑related difficulties appear in more than one area (e.g., home and work) to support a diagnosis.
Comorbidity/Co-occuring Conditions
When ADHD occurs alongside other conditions such as anxiety, depression, learning disorders, or autism, it can interact with executive function.
Impairment
The real‑world impact of symptoms on functioning at school, work, home, or in relationships.
Strengths‑Based Perspective
An approach that acknowledges both challenges and potential strengths associated with ADHD, such as creativity, hyperfocus on interests, and non‑linear thinking.
ADHD Brain Science
ADHD Brain Chemicals
Neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine function differently in ADHD brains, affecting motivation, focus, and impulse control.
Dopamine
The “motivation/reward chemical.” In ADHD, dopamine signaling is often weaker, making boring tasks feel unrewarding and reducing the drive to start or finish them.
Norepinephrine
Made from dopamine; the “focus/alertness chemical.” Controls attention, arousal, and working memory. ADHD brains often have lower norepinephrine transmission, especially in the prefrontal cortex.
Serotonin
Less central but involved in mood regulation and impulse control. Some research links serotonin imbalances to ADHD emotional dysregulation
ADHD Brain Areas
Key regions showing altered size, connectivity, or activity patterns in ADHD brains.
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)
The “brain’s CEO” for executive functions—planning, inhibition, working memory, and emotional control. Smaller/more immature in ADHD.
Limbic System
The brain’s emotional center (amygdala, hippocampus, cingulate) handling emotions, memory, motivation. In ADHD, shows reduced volume, poor white matter connectivity, and overactivity, contributing to rejection sensitivity, mood swings, and low drive.
Basal Ganglia
Movement/habit center. Helps start/stop actions and filter distractions. Reduced volume linked to hyperactivity and fidgeting.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)
Error detection, motivation switching, emotional regulation. Overactive in ADHD, causing excessive worry about mistakes.
Cerebellum
Timing/coordination center. Helps with smooth movement and time perception. Smaller in ADHD, linked to “time blindness.”
Informal / Community Language
Dopamine Hunting/Dopamine Surfing/Dopamine Seeking
Seeking stimulating activities for dopamine/novelty (like scrolling, games, or new projects)
Spoons Theory
A metaphor originally from chronic illness communities that imagines daily energy as a limited number of “spoons”; each task uses spoons, and people with ADHD or other conditions may have fewer spoons or spend them faster, especially on executive‑function‑heavy tasks
“Squirrel!”
Playful term for sudden distraction by something interesting
Task Paralysis
Feeling mentally “frozen” and unable to start tasks.
Learn More: Recommended Resources
Official Medical & Research Sources
- CHADD Glossary of Terms
Comprehensive ADHD terminology from the leading U.S. ADHD parent organization.
- Cleveland Clinic: ADHD Overview
Medical encyclopedia entry covering all ADHD presentations and symptoms.
- NIMH: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
National Institute of Mental Health’s research-based ADHD information.
Executive Function & Brain Science
- ADDitude Magazine: ADHD Neuroscience 101
Excellent breakdowns of ADHD brain differences and executive functions.
- ADDA: Inside the ADHD Brain
Attention Deficit Disorder Association’s guide to brain structure and chemistry.
Trusted Clinical Glossaries
- Duke Psychiatry: ADHD Glossary
Academic medical center’s definitions of clinical ADHD terminology.
- Frida: Adult ADHD Definitions
Clear, modern glossary focused on adult ADHD presentations.
Sensory Processing & Neurodiversity
- Sensory Sid: SPD Terms and Definitions
Complete sensory processing vocabulary relevant to ADHD.