Live Webinar April 8: The Brain Chemistry of ADHD: Understanding Dopamine, Serotonin & Norepinephrine
Register below for this webinar on ADHD brain chemistry on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at 1pm ET. Sign up and receive the free webinar replay link as well!
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ADHD is not a disorder of willpower; it is a condition of dysregulation. Decades of neurobiological research demonstrate that altered signaling in key neurotransmitter systems — particularly dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin — contribute to the core features of ADHD. These chemical messengers in the brain shape how we focus, prioritize, feel motivated, regulate emotions, and experience reward.
Dopamine is central to motivation, pleasure, reward processing, and goal-directed behavior. When dopamine signaling is adequate, individuals feel calm, satisfied, and capable of sustained engagement. When dopamine tone is reduced or dysregulated, as often observed in ADHD, the brain compensates by seeking novelty, urgency, or high stimulation. This contributes to distractibility, procrastination on mundane tasks, and the pursuit of immediate rewards over long-term goals.
Norepinephrine supports sustained attention, executive functioning, working memory, and impulse control. In the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive control center, dopamine and norepinephrine work together to optimize cognitive performance. When these systems are underactive, individuals may experience task initiation difficulties, emotional reactivity, sensory overwhelm, and mental fatigue.
While not traditionally viewed as a “core” ADHD neurotransmitter, serotonin plays a critical modulatory role in mood, sleep, emotional stability, and behavioral inhibition. Serotonergic imbalance can amplify irritability, anxiety, mood swings, impulsivity, and sleep disturbance, complicating the ADHD clinical picture.
In this engaging and scientifically grounded webinar, you will learn:
- About the neurochemical basis for ADHD and understand what is beneath the surface of symptoms
- How ADHD brains differ structurally and functionally from neurotypical brains, including altered activity in the prefrontal cortex, differences in reward circuitry, variations in cortical maturation and connectivity, and dysregulation within the networks that aid cognitive control
- Gain insight into how these neural systems interact dynamically, and how neurotransmitter balance influences real-world behavior
- How excess hormones and neurotransmitters can lead to over arousal, anxiety, and irritability while insufficient signaling affects executive function, procrastination and motivation
- How serotonin modulates emotional regulation, impulsivity, and sleep stability, with clinical examples to illustrate how neurochemical dysregulation translates to everyday functional difficulties
About evidence-based interventions and how they restore brain function, including:
- Stimulant medications that enhance dopamine and norepinephrine signaling
- Traditional non-stimulant treatments that target norepinephrine
- New and novel nonstimulants that modulate serotonin
- Behavioral interventions that leverage reward systems
- Sleep, exercise, and lifestyle strategies that support neurotransmitter balance
Have a question for our expert? There will be an opportunity to post questions for the presenter during the live webinar.
Webinar Sponsor
ADHD isn’t a lack of effort. It’s rooted in differences in how your brain regulates motivation, reward, attention, and emotions. When dopamine and other key brain chemicals fluctuate, it can affect everything from focus and consistency to mood and impulse control. Inflow gets it. Our science-backed program helps you better understand your ADHD brain and apply practical strategies to improve follow-through, emotional balance, and daily functioning. Take the free ADHD traits quiz to get started.
ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.
ADHD & Brain Health: Resources
Meet the Expert Speaker
Gregory W. Mattingly, M.D., has been a psychopharmacology Instructor for more than 20 years at The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned his medical degree and residency at Washington University, where he received a Fulbright Scholarship. Dr. Mattingly has been a principal investigator in more than 500 clinical trials and his research has been published in numerous national and international journals. He is the CMO for ACCUMIN Neuroscience, a research insights and analytics company. In addition to his clinical and research practice, Dr. Mattingly has worked as a mental health consultant and evaluator for both the National Football League and Major League Baseball. Dr. Mattingly is the Past President for the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders, serves on the Scientific Program Committee for the World Federation for ADHD and is Co-Chair for the U.S. Psych Congress.
Certificate of Attendance: For information on how to purchase the certificate of attendance option (cost $10), register for the webinar, then look for instructions in the email you’ll receive one hour after it ends. The certificate of attendance link will also be available here, on the webinar replay page, several hours after the live webinar. ADDitude does not offer CEU credits.
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