Breaking down ADHD Neuroscience, Menstrual Cycles, Hormones and Anxiety

Neuroscience explains so much about our ADHD brain and the many traits, tendencies, and behaviours that come along for the ride. The more we understand our beautiful yet complex neurobiology, the more empowered we are to make sustainable and manageable changes to better enhance our lives.So, I'm delighted to welcome this week's guest, Nicole Vignola, a neuroscientist, author, consultant, and brain performance coach, to the podcast.Nicole's first book, Rewire: Your Neurotoolkit for Everyday Life is available now.On today's episode of The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast, Kate and Nicola speak about:The science behind meditationThe brain's negativity biasThe function of the brain's 'DMN' AND 'TPN'How self-interruptions affect our daily lifeThe power of meditation for emotional regulationNicole's tips for feeling more calm and positiveFeeling more self-alignedThe damaging effects of your phone and social mediaWays to be more mindful of your phone usageUnderstanding dopamine betterThe life-changing benefits of a healthier sleep routineHow hydrating first thing can be essential for the ADHD brainHow visualising works in the brain and how it can improve our habitsAphantasia and learning how to visualiseYou can find out more about Nicole via her website, www.nicolesneuroscience.com.My other guest on today's ADHD Women's Wellbeing episode is Dr Lotta Borg Skoglund. We are at the cusp of new understandings about combining medical disciplines so we can understand ADHD in girls and women better through the lens of both menstrual cycles, hormones and psychiatry. This is for the lost generation of women who never got answers and for the future generations of girls who deserve better medical knowledge and research. Lotta is an associate professor in psychiatry at the Department of Women and Children's Health at Uppsala University and an affiliated researcher at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet. She is the author of six popular science books on ADHD and addiction, and her book ADHD Girls to Women - Getting on the Radar has been translated into several European languages, English and Korean.On this episode of the ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast, Dr Lotta Skoglund and Kate spoke about:Feeling abandoned by healthcare professionals after an ADHD diagnosisWhy healthcare professionals should be working together to help patientsHow an understanding of ADHD can change your health outcomesBuilding autonomy to feel more empowered with our ADHDImproving female-based medical research and ADHDThe importance of talking about your experiences with hormones to help othersPrecision and patient-led medicineConnecting Hormones and Psychiatry to help more ADHD womenWhy fluctuating hormones and cycles need to be part of the bigger health pictureGetting to know your unique hormone cycle traitsHow you can create a personalised health journalYou can learn more about Lotta's work via her website, www.borgskoglund.com and Letterlife.