Kunkle, Tennyson, Wander, Duncan and Eisenberg Examine Associations between ADHD-associated Allele and Nutrition and Economic Status in Northern Kenyan Rendille Children
Posted: 4/16/2025 (CSDE Research)
Around 11% of US children are diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A previous study from CSDE Affiliate Dan Eisenberg (Anthropology) showed that the ADHD-associated 7R allele of the gene encoding the D(4) dopamine receptor (DRD4) had a positive effect on the nutritional status of nomadic adult Ariaal men and a negative effect on settled adult men. This suggests that those with ADHD might have environmentally contingent benefits which are more apparent in nomadic contexts. In a pre-registered paper recently published in the American Journal of Human Biology, joint first authors Amanda Kunkle (PhD Candidate, Anthropology) and CSDE alumnus Robert Tennyson along with CSDE Affiliates Dan Eisenberg (Anthropology) and Bettina Shell-Duncan (Anthropology), and CSDE alumna Katherine Wander (Binghamton University) were unable to replicate this previous finding in a sample of children from a closely related population, the Rendille, but found a positive association between DRD4 7R and household economic status. Read the full story here.